Life Roads
by Mexwojo
Summary: Jordan and Woody are building their life together, but there is a new challenge they’ll have to deal with as a difficult case hits too close to them
1. Hot, hot, hot!

**Title**: _**Life Roads**_

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****Rating**_**:**__ T, but if you think that I should change it to M, tell me please._

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Crossing Jordan, but if I would, they wouldn't be playing bad superheroes. Or at least, they would have made up their minds._

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_**Summary:** _"Jordan and Woody are building their life together, but there is a new challenge they'll have to deal with as a difficult case hits too close to them."_

_**Acknowledgment**: This time I have to thank Kat for her work on my writing. I truly appreciate it._

_**Please review!**_

* * *

_**Life Roads**__**.**_

Chapter 1: **Hot, hot, hot!**

A commotion of pots and dishes hitting the floor, followed by a guttural groan drew Jordan's attention from the book she was reading.

"_Damn it!"_ Woody's anger was growing by the second, as next thing she heard was some kitchen instruments, maybe spoons, making a metallic crashing sound against the kitchen counter. She was expecting to hear more crashing from what was happening in her kitchen, but a few minutes passed and no more noises were heard. The vaporizer that was working in her room had already filled all the air with the scent of eucalyptus. Her lungs and throat were feeling a lot better than they did that morning. There were condensation covering her glass wall and she was finding it really difficult to read as the vapor was clouding her vision. She took off her blankets and was preparing to get out of the bed, putting her slippers on, when Woody appeared at the door.

"_What are you doing!"_ he exclaimed as if she was going to get ready for a bunji jump.

"_I was going to turn off the vaporizer; I can't read with all that vapor and…"_ she couldn't finish her explaining because Woody was all over her, tucking her into bed again.

"_No, no, no, no, no, no. __You're sick; you're not allowed to get up. The vaporizer is just fine. Leave it alone."_ Jordan's flushed cheeks worried him and he immediately took the thermometer from the bedroom table and prepared it to measure her temperature ."_Do you feel hot? Fevered or something?"_

"_No Woody! In fact, I feel a lot better now. I'm just getting frustrated__. If you dare put that thing on me I'll show you how well I'm feeling and how that thing is properly used… ON YOU!"_ She pinned her index finger menacingly to his chest, her voice came out louder than she intended. She didn't really mean to snap at Woody but her frustration was getting the better of her.

He returned the said instrument to the table and responded quite calmed, "_Ok, I'll take it as a no." _ Then, he left the room but came back immediately, carrying a tray with a bowl of something that smoked and smelled just like chicken soup.

"_Did you cook this?"_ Jordan's stomach reminded her that she hadn't had a meal since yesterday morning. Her appetite was telling her that she was, in fact, feeling good.

"_O yeah, and I promise, it's a lot lot better than the one they serve at Mass General_." He fixed a bed table over her and put a spoon in the bowl, "_you better take it hot",_ he didn't have to ask her twice, she was devouring it hungrily already. Woody was observing her in the meantime, thinking about how his life had turned out to be so fantastic after all the tragedy that hanged over his head every day. He thought about how, after those major traumatic events they had experienced, they were at this point in their life together, they were happy and taking care of each other. His loving look was not acknowledged by Jordan as her whole being was focused on that chicken bowl.

"_Did you take your medicine?"_ Woody asked while he was removing the empty bowl from the table.

"_Woooody, I'm a doctor, I can take care of that!"_ Her anger was now at breaking point. Her strength was recovered and his over protectiveness was affecting her self control.

"_Yes, yes, but a very negligent one when it comes to your own self__"_

If Jordan's face was reddish before, now it had turned the color of flames._ "Oh! Please leave me alone. Don't you have work to do or something?"_

"_No, my night off… sorry, you're stuck with me."_

Woody's confidence infuriated her even more_. "Ok, I'm just gonna turn off the vaporizer, I'm beginning to feel suffocated."_ And she put the blankets away, firmly trying to get up again.

Woody kept her from doing so, taking her by her shoulders, lovely but tight. _"No. Look, it's a cool mist humidifier; Garret told me it's good for your lungs. If you feel hot, is not the humidifier."_ She glared at him trying to get free from his hold. He reacted tightening his grip. "_You've survived a brain surgery and a plane crash in the period of one year; I don't want you to die on me from stupid pneumonia you collected because of your stubbornness. Was it really too hard to let Seely do his work? Any of the guys could have dragged that girl from the frozen water, it didn't have to be especially you, you know?"_

They were struggling with each other in attempt to get one up on the other. Neither was allowing the other to do so.

"_I was doing just fine yesterday by myself, you know. If you are so angry with my__ attitude at work you can fill in the complaint form Garret has made especially for me"_ and then she performed the "thinking" gesture, putting a finger on her temple and rolling her eyes "_Oh, yeah, I remember, we ran out of that form ages ago. You'll have to wait your turn!"_

"_Jordan, take it easy."_ He warned. "_The only thing I'm saying is that you could have waited for someone who was better equipped for that action. It was freezing! Fourteen degrees or less that day!"_

"_I wasn't going to wait for Matt to get off his very expensive-designer pair of shoes he was wearing for work and let that poor little girl die of cold in the lake! Time was running out! And everybody was moving in such slow motion. I…"_ He smiled and silenced her with a kiss full of passion, mixing his desire with admiration. That was exactly why he loved her so much. A moment passed by between more them, their kisses releasing any anxiety they felt.

He had been so worried ever since they told him Jordan was visiting the hospital again. His fears of the meningioma wouldn't leave him alone. When he learned she was getting checked out for a much less, let alone fearing pneumonia, he couldn't get the concern out of his mind that easily. Not until now.

Two entire weeks had passed since the incident and he hadn't been able to stay with her because he was involved in surveillance work in New Jersey. Of all the collaborating police acts he could have been doing he had to be far away from her. Jordan reassured him that she wasn't that bad, that they treated her properly at the hospital and that she was taken care. Garret had done it for her, as always, and she had been released to go home. That kept him from throwing all his work right away… but he wanted to so that he could be there to take care of Jordan.

"_You're gonna get infected."_ She mumbled hoarsely.

"_Didn't you say that you were feeling__ better a minute ago?"_ He managed to articulate between breathing efforts...

And she showed to him indeed how good she was feeling now. The high amount of vapor surrounding them gave the impression of being in a hot, wet dream. So hot that their clothes were being dismissed two at a time. In the rush of the moment, she almost ripped off his belt as it didn't come un-done easily. He helped her with the belt, and with many things more…

************** ***********

"_Shit! The condom broke."_ Woody said alarmed when he was taking out the said article.

"_Don't worry, I'm on the pill,"_ Jordan whispered, her full body relaxed, her brain almost disconnected from this world, a restful sleep embracing her. Woody tucked himself into the sheets with her, kissed her forehead and let the sleep embrace him too.

* * *

With a happy-go-lucky attitude, Woody entered the residential condo where dispatch had requested him. His life couldn't get any better, it was "perfect". The long forgotten farm-boy was returning.

"_What do we have, Kate?"_ He asked the ME - she was crouched over a chaise longue in the living room. Although he was excited, he felt something was wrong with some of the people in the apartment. He didn't recognize a couple of the men that were standing beside the corps. "_This is a crime scene Sir. You'll have to leave please,"_ he requested before Kate could answer him. She just threw him a "look" that made him feel uneasy. _"What?"_ He asked to her, and she motioned to look at the ID's that both men were showing to him already.

"_We're from the Mayor's office, detective. This young lady over here was in our council staff. Her name is Susan Byrne. We need to know what happened."_ One of them said.

Woody watched the two men, then he looked at the young woman that rested peacefully on the couch, and finally he met Kate's eyes.

"_There's no visible sign of COD, she's no more than twenty five."_ She uttered.

"_Well__, I think we'll have to wait for the forensic results to answer your questions. We'll be in touch with your office as soon as we know anything. Meanwhile, I have to insist to you that this is a crime scene and that you have to leave… please."_ He beckoned them to move toward the exit, and both men walked defeated as they were requested.

"_What a pain in the ass,"_ Kate muttered while she was crouching again over the young woman.

"_What? Our dear Kate can't manage a couple of defenseless men from the Mayor's office by herself? Hey! Hell must be freezing!"_ He spoke almost singing. His grin - dimples included, came back to him.

As Kate was about to answer in her usual intimidating way, Nigel peeked his head from the next-room-door. _"I bet someone got lucky,_" he gleamed, expecting juicy details explaining Woody's behavior.

Kate stared at him, "_You are both so out of line,"_ she admonished them, "_pay a little more respect for this girl and for the baby." _

Woody looked completely stunned and asked, _"What baby?"_

"_Her missing baby_" Nigel's stance changed rapidly, ashamed. He motioned Woody to come to the room he was in. _"Look,"_ he showed to him an empty crib, _"she was a single-mom, and her baby, a girl I presume, is missing."_


	2. Lullaby

I'm very excited that you're liking my story. I've got such beautiful reviews and I want to thank you all! Thanks **KJ22, Amelia Bianca Black, SCS7900, BugFan4Ever, and****lbcjfan**.

But just knowing that you're reading, makes me feel great!

**Thanks Kat!**This really means a lot to me.

I hope I can meet your expectations.

Please, keep reviewing!

* * *

Chapter 2: **Lullaby**.

"_Hey love, what are you doing here? I thought you were still recovering from your pneumonia."_ Nigel saw Jordan approaching her office cautiously almost as if she was hiding from someone.

"_Have you seen Woody around here_?" She didn't even hear what Nigel was asking her.

"_Er, no… he must be in autopsy with Kate, making her life unbearable because of that young woman from the coun…"_

"_Good."_ Jordan didn't wait for Nigel to finish what he had to say; she moved into her office rapidly and shut the door.

Nigel was amused, and intrigued! Her demeanor was contrasting to the one Woody was having that morning. What was up with this pair? That he was determined to find out. He opened her door just a few moments after she closed it, and popped his head inside.

"_What is it, love? Anything you can share with an old friend?"_

Jordan jumped, surprised by this intervention, which made Nigel perfectly aware that she was in fact hiding from the blue-eyed detective. _"Don't Nigel!"_ she said, to discourage him from asking. _"And don't say anything to Woody, I'm not supposed to be here"_, she warned him while she pushed his head away and shut the door again.

Before he could react, Woody appeared at the end of the corridor. He was making his way to the elevators. Lily was arriving at that moment and she was having a hard time with an uncomfortable Maddie. The baby was crying and drawing everybody's attention. Woody's shimmering manners hadn't disappeared from the time he had left that morning. Or so he thought as he was happily striding to meet his friends. Woody, Lily and the crying baby encountered one another just in front of Jordan's office, where Nigel was standing awkwardly.

In that instant, the criminologist saw Jordan's figure rushing to crouch just below her office-window, so she wouldn't be noticed from the outside.

"_Have you seen Bug? I need him to calm her down!"_ Lily's need of finding her fiancé was one mile taking into notice. Her features were exhausted, her clothes shrugged, her eyes almost pleading.

Woody's smile widened, if that was possible, _"May I?"_ He asked her, lifting his arms to hold the girl.

"_Really?"_ Lily wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but as she desperately needed to ease her mind quickly, she handed Maddie to him.

Lily started to explain how that morning she couldn't leave her daughter at the nursery as she was a little fevered. It turned out that was teething, and the pain of her new tooth was the cause of her bad attitude.

Woody held the baby lovingly and started to sing softly for her, a sweet lullaby. It was almost inaudible for the rest of the witnesses. Maddie stopped her yelling and crying, and was slowly starting to smile. Lily's heart melted, and it seemed that she wasn't the only one with a melted heart, for that gorgeous scene was noticed by every woman that passed by. They acknowledged them with a look of admiration. Some of them crowded around Woody and the baby, offering their help.

Jordan wasn't sure to whom these women were attracted, if it was the baby, or the handsome man holding her… For a fleeting moment, the monster of jealousy attacked her.

Oh, no! This man was all hers!

Maybe before, when she didn't know for sure where Woody's heart was placed, she wouldn't let anybody see she loved him. When Devan got in the middle, or Lu took him from her, she wouldn't ever think of showing any tiny sign of concern. Back then, her performance was so good that she almost fooled herself. But now, too much had happened between both of them. He loved her, and she… she was doomed; she was not the same Jordan as she was before the crash. She was all his since the very moment he kissed her there up on the mountain… after she confessed her love to him.

She wasn't even noticed when she got up from her hideout, and she suddenly appeared in the middle of the female gathering. Nigel watched her, confused. He didn't have a clue about what she was doing. Woody stared at her too, annoyed; he didn't want to say anything in front of all those members of the opposite sex –well, all women except for Nigel… almost.

"_Hey Woody!"_ she gave him a full and sound kiss on the mouth. Then, she took the shining Maddie from his arms, and rocked her as if she had always known how to do it. Every other woman felt the challenge implied on that territorial act, so the gathering dispersed quite quickly.

Woody changed his posture from exasperated and stunned to dazed and pleased, forgetting the battle that had just been wrestled. His glimmering expression returned.

"_What are you doing here, Jordan?"_ he grabbed her by the waist and closed the distance between them. _"Hadn't we agreed that you would be staying at home for a couple of days more."_ He gave both chicks a loving kiss on the forehead.

Nigel's knowing look and a "got you" smile bothered her. She struggled to sound casual, but as she was about to answer with a smart comment, Lily interrupted the interaction.

"_Oh dear! Isn't this the most beautiful picture?"_ her adoring glance was all over the couple… and her baby.

"_What?"_ Jordan snapped back. She didn't intend to be rude, but she reacted without thinking as she felt threatened by the sole implication her friend had just made. She immediately returned the object of her concern to the mother, performing as if she didn't understand what Lily was talking about.

Woody stood quiet, his face was unreadable. He knew exactly what Lily had referred to, and he was surprised to recognize he had just visited the same thought… a second before Lily did. But he also knew what it meant for Jordan. Well, he thought he knew, he hadn't talked to her about it yet. He wasn't sure if he would gather the courage to do it soon, if ever. He was content with his life the way it was at that moment, and he didn't intent to ruin it…

But on the other hand, she had wanted to be Kyla's mother… he had given her a recommendation letter… One step at a time, it was better that way. When the moment arrived, they would have that discussion. So, he acted the same way as Jordan - as if he was oblivious of what was implied.

"_I saw Bug in autopsy, if you're still looking for him"_ Woody broke the uncomfortable silence that followed Lily's suggestion.

"_I'll wait for him to finish, Maddie is quiet now. I have a lot to__do; maybe I can get some work done now. Thank you Woody, I didn't know you had that magic, it is good to know who to call with these affairs."_ She gave her friend a kiss on the cheek.

She smiled and headed to the conference room, much more relaxed than when she had first arrived. The image of her friends and her daughter was fixed in her mind, it didn't matter if Jordan didn't want to recognize it yet, the baby was very happy in her arms. She was thinking of how wonderful their lives had turned out to be after all. And moreover, how wonderful was the future that was awaiting.

"_Well, Jordan, tell me… What are you doing here?"_ Woody asked. He took her in a full embrace, not noticing Nigel's presence anymore. Nigel cleared his throat, but the only response he got was Jordan's requesting to leave them, with one glance. So, he didn't have any other option but to leave without having a word on that really interesting event.

"_I was missing you."_ She murmured on his ear, her lips making its way to his mouth again. This time, their kiss was shared, and very much enjoyed in the middle of the hallway.


	3. Truth, Goodness and Beauty

Things have been chaotic in my world, but isn't Life fantastic?

Health and Love to you all!

* * *

Chapter 3: **Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Wishing for a girl like you**.

Woody came into the autopsy room looking for Kate. The lifeless body of Susan Byrne was lying on a slab. The sewed Y incision on her chest indicated that her autopsy had already been performed. It was disturbing how her nudity didn't bother anyone. Not Kate, not him, and obviously not her. Her beautiful body was exposed to all their eyes.

She was beautiful on a different level. Her skin and flesh remained as when they had had life, but there was an ethereal quietness to her that made her look fragile and at the same time unbreakable… almost marmoreal.

She had been alive, and more than that, she had brought another human creature into the world

She had given birth a baby… a girl.

It should have been amazing to give life…

They had to find her baby… alive.

The gorgeous nudity of this eerie-stone woman took his thoughts to the same person every time he had that kind of reflection, to Jordan. But _his _Jordan was very much alive; he was a true witness of that.

And he intended to keep her that way, alive and happy.

And healthy, even against her own will.

And beautiful to him.

And naked, as much as he could. Her silky skin and the warm sensations were his higher expectations.

It was pretty clear that in his state of mind, even death had become truth and goodness.

Woody came nearer to Susan's remains while Kate grabbed a file from the desk that was behind them and opened it.

"_Skin and oropharynx condition indicate a severe case of anaphylaxis, maybe caused from drug or food poisoning."_ She showed him the nasty hives that were on her once beautiful-white-skin. _"Respiratory and cardiac arrest may have been taken place before she died. Obstruction of the respiratory system and subsequent choking are the cause of death." _Then she showed him Susan's swollen tongue and continued. _"But she was drugged before, we found traces of Rohypnol." _

"_The roofie?"_ Woody asked, not as if he didn't know but as an affirmation of what he knew.

"_Yeah, 'date rape drug'."_ Confirmed Kate, lifting her eyes from the paper she was reading and meeting his eyes_. "We found just the main enzyme of phase one metabolism in her liver. Since Flunitrazepam has a long half-life of eighteen to twenty six hours, I think that she was drugged and then immediately induced to anaphylaxis. She wasn't able to metabolize the drug a step further because she died right away. We haven't found another drug or remains of food that may indicate the cause of the anaphylaxis, except and maybe if she was allergic to penicillin. There is evidence of amoxicillin in the blood." _

"_So, what I have to look for is if she was ill and taking antibiotics, specifically penicillin, or if she was allergic to it. And if the latter was her case, who could have known that and have a motive to kill her. Am I right?"_

He was thinking that the killer had the assurance of the ultimate phase of the murder without implicating a gun or any other kind of object that could compromise the outcome. It was a cold blood murder.

"_Yes, I would say so"_ Replied Kate, closing the file and considering her work done.

"_And maybe the motive would have to do with the kidnapping of her baby… Have you found anything on the samples the CSU people collected?"_ Woody didn't guess that Kate was done with this exchange, as he needed someone to discuss it with. He was so used to Jordan that it was really hard to keep from doing it, even with Kate.

She on he other hand, knew that Woody expected her to solve his cases as he had with Jordan, and she had fought it so much, loosing every time… She considered that it was better to join the team than to fight them. So, she played with their rules. The morgue rules. She was feeling a part of them after all. She had even shared a plane crash with them. What else could she do? She sighed. _"Well, we may be able to establish who her father is trough DNA analysis by comparing the fecal and urine samples of the dipper they collected, if we had something to compare. We could establish if she was healthy or sick… I don't know, we'll have to deal with your assumptions about the victim's murder and the baby's kidnapping."_

"_The father of the baby is still unknown, but neighbors and the babysitter said she wasn't having any kind of problems with anybody. An exemplary single-mom, no man was visiting her and her baby was adorable and never cried." _He was thinking, _"the most solid lead is about her baby's kidnapping. Maybe I'll have to seek for under law adoption or in the worst of cases, organ trafficking…"_ this had turned out to be a nasty case. _"Somehow, she had to have known the one who did it to her; there were no signs of struggle… if she was drugged maybe we can find some remnants of it on glasses, maybe even fingerprints, if we're lucky…"_ He'll make sure that this bastard wouldn't get away from justice. _"We have to move fast, the baby's life is threatened until we know why she was kidnapped"._

Woody was still on a brain storm talking with Kate about Susan Byrne's murder when Nigel and Bug came into the autopsy room, chatting, as always. Woody abruptly interrupted his deliberation and greeted his friends with a cheery glance.

"_Hey!"_ He said to them.

The discussion they were having had seemed to come to an end as Bug's attention was changed to his detective-friend. _"Hey Woody! Did you find something that was to your liking?"_

The light in his eyes told everybody in the room that he had indeed found something really extraordinary, for whatever it was that Bug was asking about. It seemed that he was the only one acquainted with Woody's joyful stance.

"_Oh, yes! Amazing! Just the one I was looking for! I tell you buddy, this time I'm gonna get it. I have everything prepared." _

Nigel was wondering what this pair was talking about. Woody's sparkling eyes had him intrigued and hurt. Why wasn't he informed about anything these days? _"What? What is it, mate?"_

"_Oh, no Nigel. Last time somebody told you something like this, you were spreading the fact around, it turned out to be a disaster. And I want it to be 'perfect'."_ He was thoughtful for an instant_, "on a better thinking, I may have to thank you for that… anyway, you'll know tomorrow."_ The happy detective headed to where Bug was standing and both friends performed their hands salute, _"Wish me luck!"_ Woody said at the end.

Bug just smiled, lifting his thumbs up to him.

"_I'll be in touch with you, Kate. Keep me informed of anything you find. I have ten more people working on finding the baby. Her picture is on the news by now. So, as I told you, we have to move fast."_ Although he was struggling to sound professional and serious, his excited manners didn't fool Kate.

"_Sure thing merry detective" _she said, sarcastic and impersonating Bug's thumbs-up to him. Woody's happy mood didn't change a bit for this; he faked a laugh while he pointed his index finger to her and simulated gun fire. In the next second, he was outside.

"_What was all that about?"_ Nigel wasn't going to let it go, and for whatever it took, he would have an answer from Bug.

"_Oh no, Nige. You heard Woody. You'll know tomorrow."_

But Nigel insisted, he was beginning to feel worried as he wasn't used to being left out of any kind of news their friends and not so friends had around where he lived. _"What do you want Bug?" _

Bug's posture wasn't moved a bit by the gossip compulsion of his friend, _"Nothing"._

Now, Nigel was desperate, some people had gambling compulsions, others had problems with drugs or alcohol. His was knowledge, all kinds, especially knowledge of what was going on in everybody's lives. _"Listen to my offer… a full week of paperwork."_

Kate observed their debate with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"_Double or nothing, starting right away."_ Bug guessed that his friend wouldn't find time to ruin anybody's life with all the work he would be doing in that period of time, so, it was pretty harmless to tell him.

"_You must be kidding!"_ Nigel was utterly lost. His compulsion had lost him.

"_I tell you, Nige, it__'s worth it."_ It was almost a waste of words trying to convince him, he had made up his mind already.

"_Done!"_ He yelled, as if this was the last chance Bug was giving to him.

"_I have a witness!"_ Bug finally granted and signaled Kate in order to make their deal perfectly legal. He made a pause, just to exacerbate, a little more, his friend; he was having so much fun with him. _"Ok… I was asking if he had found a ring. I recommended him the place I bought Lily's… he's gonna propose tonight." _


	4. Love Song

_Is there a potion for Happiness?_

_How do you get assured that what you Want is what you get?_

_Is it always Love above our fears and our compulsions?_

_Is Life a fairy tale?_

_**Thank you to you all!**_

_**Here it is, I hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 4: **Love Song**

Oh, God! His heart was beating so fast. A throbbing anticipation for the great step he was about to make enveloped him. The box with the ring burned in his pocket. Sometimes, even breath was failing to him.

He arrived at his car, and in the privacy of the seat inside, he extracted the box and opened it… again.

This was the one.

Not like the other, that was his worst memory of her… That ring was cursed; all went in a downward spiral after it…

But who was he trying to fool? Back then what went wrong was his indecision.

What was he thinking with that _friendship_ ring?

'Hey man! Determination! You need to be strong. Her heart is yours now, she had said so.'

The stunning ring shined in Woody's hand. He admired it for a couple of minutes, reviewing in his mind the list of things he needed to do before he went home to pick her up.

He needed a shower and a change of cloths. That was arranged at Lily and Bug's place, he didn't need to leave anything in the open.

He had to buy flowers. The most beautiful bucket of flowers he could find…

'White and pink… or was it better to buy red? Oh God! Decisions, decisions…'

He grabbed his cell and dialed. One ring… two rings… three…

'Pick it up please…'

"_Hey Woody! What's up?"_ Jordan's sweet voice came to him.

"_Jordan, honey… I'll be at home at seven. Remember I wanna get you out tonight. I…"_

Jordan's exasperated voice interrupted _"Don't you honey-me, Ok? Yeah, I remember. Don't go all fussy on me. I'll be ready. I was going to take a shower right now, so, if you don't mind…"_

Woody blinked. 'Damn it! Everything has to be perfect, stop pushing her, man!' "_Yes, sorry… I didn't mean to…"_

"_Oh, no! Don't be sorry… It's just that it's been three weeks of confinement since I got sick… I'm a little bit touchy here. Sorry Woody, I didn't mean to be rude_…" her voice showed regret, she was so moody these days…

"_Alright then, I'll be there at seven. I love you hon…"_ 'Shit! Don't honey-her!'

"_I love you too_" She answered without even noticing his last word. Her voice came sweet and loving. She hung up then. Wow! His heart was bumping a mile away!

'Take it easy, man. You don't need to have a heart attack…'

He started the engine of his car and pulled out of the police's parking lot.

* * *

Why was she behaving that way?

Woody was the most caring and loving man she had ever met and she kept pushing him away. And the most striking fact was that she didn't want to. She didn't want to push him away any more.

So, why was she doing that?

The warm water running on her body felt so good, almost as it felt with his hands on her skin. His hands were big and warm, and his caresses gave more than love to her body, they gave love to her soul…

So, why was she doing that?

She didn't want to think about her life without him, not now that she knew he loved her. That was out of question.

He loved her, but the most important thing was that she loved him.

She had admitted it to herself, so admitting it to everyone else was easy.

She had admitted it to him.

She loved Woody…

Mmmh, the water just felt good…

* * *

"_Woody, take it easy! Everything is gonna be alright. You'll see. I just know Jordan is gonna adore that ring, it's gorgeous!"_ Lily was trying to fix his jacket that kept shrugging against his neck, and Woody had already made his neck reddish from all his struggling to fix it.

"_Oh Lily! I haven't been this nervous about a woman ever." _After Lily finished her work on his clothes, he continued pacing, as it seemed that it was all that he was doing lately; that and scratching his neck. All of a sudden he stopped and confessed._ "Well almost, the same woman a few years ago… I was so anxious then, I felt so insecure, that I didn't manage to ask her properly, I was an idiot… a friendship ring! Who comes up with that kind of crap?"_

Now, he wasn't making any sense to Lily, but she knew better that to ask him about that apparently disturbing memory. "_Well, here I go again… seriously this time…" _The itching on his neck was painful. "_Argh! This damn thing! I should have brought a suit, I knew it!"_

"_I didn't know then, but now I know that Jordan is truly in love with you… You don't have to worry about a thing. You look stunning!" _Woody was all over his neck again and she snatched his hand away, "_leave it alone!"_

"_Ok, so… wish me luck."_ He said while he grabbed the flowers from the table.

"_You don't need it, Woody. But… luck, anyway"_ Lily gave him a tender kiss on the cheek and softly embraced him. She was so happy. Being able to help Jordan and Woody to build their life together felt incredible. Jordan had been her own worst enemy for such a long time that it was amazing this new turn of events. It was going to be alright, she was convinced of that.

Woody kissed her too, and left the Vijay's home.

* * *

"_Flowers? For me? But you know I'm not the flower-girl type, Woody, so why are you_…?" She was confused about Woody's demeanor. She didn't need that kind of treatment. Who was he trying to impress?

"_Oh! Bare with me Jordan, please? Just accept the flowers. And you can say that they are beautiful."_ He couldn't hold back the annoyance in his voice, for he was beginning to feel discouraged. He knew her… why the hell did he buy flowers for her?

'You're doing it again, Jordan. He's trying to please you. Just accept the damn flowers'. She took the flowers from him and went to look for a vase to put them._ "They are beautiful, thank you."_ She remembered an old vase she had somewhere… there. She grabbed the long forgotten vase from the kitchen and filled it with water while she was admiring Woody's figure. _"You look great, Woody, where are we going?"_

He was looking amazing. Beside the attractive and manly aspect, there was a glow irradiating from his eyes that made her feel excited. Oh dear! Now she was getting anxious… was it some kind of celebration that she didn't remember?

"_Somewhere special, it's a new restaurant Garret told me about and he got us reservations. He said it's quite good. And I got him to translate all the things they serve there. I don't want to feel threatened by a plate of chimichangas. But it's not Mexican and it's not a queue on the street_." He was rambling; Jordan didn't need all that explaining about the place or the food, or anything.

He needed to calm down again. But how could he? She looked incredible! She was wearing a new dress. It was black with a big opening on the back, and the neckline was just breathtaking… Why was she wearing that dress? She didn't wear dresses at all! Did she know about his intentions? If it wasn't for their reservation… and the ring thing… he would rather stay home and make love to her.

"_Are you ready now?"_ They had to leave before he chickened out.

'Calm down, Jordan, go with the flow. It's just Woody. There's nothing to be worry about.' She came near him and gripped his arm while she caressed his cheek tenderly with her other hand, and then, kissed him. _"Let's go_".

* * *

There was no wine as she was still taking medicine, but the food had been very good. The place was nice, refined and with a glimpse of bohemian ambience, like the one Garret would have had enjoyed. There was a jazz quartet playing and some couples were dancing.

Jordan was finishing her dessert, carelessly observing the dancers. She was serene and happy. It had turned out to be a delightful dinner. Woody had been so loving, and she felt as if her life couldn't get any better. The banter she enjoyed so much had returned to them as if they had never stopped being friends.

Woody observed every little move she made, trying to read her body language as if there would be some kind of cue from her movements that would show him the perfect moment to ask her. The stress he had been feeling the whole night was diminishing as they talked like there were no problems, no strangers, and no history beyond both of them. More confident than when they arrived at the restaurant, he decided that the time had come and before the last piece of dessert was consumed, he invited her to dance. He had always felt secure when they danced. It was such a pleasure to have her body in his arms while they danced.

He softly embraced her and grabbed her waist. She let her head resting on his chest. It was a soft song.

And then another.

The music was beginning to work its magic on their hearts. The dancing releasing all the anxiety they could still have been feeling.

"_Jordan"_ He whispered on her ear.

"_Mmm?"_ She answered.

"_I love you."_ He continued, his voice warm and low.

"_I love you too."_ She whispered as well.

Then he lifted her head to face him and took her lips in a long, sweet kiss. When they came apart he said, _"Jordan, I have something to ask you."_

They kept waving with the music, looking into each other's eyes. Jordan's were questioning his, so… he stopped his dancing and took the box out of his pants' pocket.

She was intensely observing the box when it came into view, an alarming premonition of what it meant abruptly attacked her. There it was again, her uncontrollable reaction to shut the door and run.

He extracted the ring from the box and enveloped her with a glance of love. "_Will you marry me?"_

Jordan was terrified. Her body was completely petrified. She couldn't get her voice to come out of her. But she didn't know what to say either. Her brain was overloaded.

Suddenly, she was out of control. "_What?... Woody, I don't know… Don't you think it's too soon? … I mean, I love you… I really do… but…"_

The hurt in Woody's eyes was indescribable. If the ground buried him in that second, he would be grateful. What was it? This was his worst nightmare.

Jordan was his very soul, and this his worst nightmare.

The itching on his neck returned, unbearable. "_But Jordan, why?... You said you loved me. I don't think I could love you more than I do… it's been more than seven years since we met! We have been together as a couple for half a year… I want to marry you…" _

Oh Dear! There she was doing it again. 'He's begging you, Jordan… Do you really want him to do that? …Why do you keep hurting him? … You love him! … Relax… take a deep breathe… Jordan, relax…'

Before Woody could do anything, or her irrational fears took her hostage again, she firmly grabbed his head in her hands and kissed him passionately. Her hands slipped away to his shoulders as Woody held her strongly with his both arms around her back in response.

That was a mind-blowing kiss. She didn't remember where she was or what was going on when they came apart, gasping for air.

"_Is that a yes?"_ From Woody's point of view, the situation was pretty confusing. Jordan was sending mixed signals to him.

On Jordan's side, adrenaline still ran through her body. The impression of the ring and that incredible kiss was sinking in. She earnestly watched his uneasy features for an instant.

"_Show me the ring"_ She uttered gravely.

He extracted it from his pocket again. For an expert viewer, the trembling in his hands could go on unnoticed. Not for Jordan. Her heart broke a little for what she was capable of doing to him. Not on purpose, and that was the most disturbing fact. She didn't want to be that dangerous. Not to him… ever.

She took the ring from his hand and stared at it.

It was amazing.

Then she stared at his beautiful deep-blue-pleading eyes.

And for a brief moment she believed it. It was a promise. It was an unfathomable wish hidden in her being.

She could be happy.

She could have a life of wonders if she believed.

She knew she would need to work hard, very hard... Her self-inflected wounds, and wounds he had made as well, had left scars that still bleed from time to time.

But the promise was there, in her reflection in his eyes. She could see herself in his eyes. She could see her future in his eyes.

And she let it go… her fears.

She closed her eyes and kissed him again, with the eagerness of a woman with a death sentence when the punishment has been suspended; a wonderful peace was slowly enveloping her.

"_Yes_" she finally murmured. "_Yes"._


	5. Close to Me

Disclaimer: The poems cited below are "_O Me, O Life!" _by Walt Whitman, and "_Ithaka" _by C. P. Cavafy Translated by Edmund Keeley.

My characters are absolutely fictitious. Any resemblance with real life is just coincidence

Are you enjoying the story? Please let me know!

* * *

Chapter Five: **Close to Me**.

Woody's exhausted figure appeared at the bedroom door. Two in the morning and he was just arriving home from work. Jordan had been reading on the bed and she had dosed off with the book on her face. She awoke, startled by the extra weight on her head, and the sensation of being blinded. Woody quietly took the book away from her and patted her hair softly to calm her.

When Jordan realized the situation focusing on his features, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes and that his hair was all messy. She gave him a tender welcoming-kiss on the lips and caressed his cheek. "_Oh poor little guy! Let me take care of you._"

She was in such playful mood and she didn't even know why. Of course there were lots of reasons to be happy; she had collapsed her wall completely; she was going to get married. Freaky to her, it hadn't been that scary after all. She even had some thrilling ideas about a tacky Vegas-wedding. Of course Woody didn't know about that yet! There was no reason to make him more upset about anything; this case from the mayor council was eating him alive already.

She had been released from confinement a week ago. Life had been gentle with her lately. Woody was the one that had been in a difficult place.

"_Almost three weeks since Susan Byrne was killed and we are still at square one_." He fell onto the bed and covered his face with one arm. "_Well, almost… we know now who the father of her baby is._" He sighed.

"_That's good news, isn't it?"_ She sat up on the bed.

"_Oh no, believe me." _He uncovered his face and glanced anxiously at her._ "Now the pressure is at full throttle. He was the one that came to us; he wants to know what happened with his daughter. He's Greg O'Brien."_

"_Are you kidding? Councilor O´Brien?"_ This case had turned out to be very high profile. The Councilor had had major media attention since he had discovered foul play inside the Mayor's office. Bribery.

"_I wish I were kidding… but no." _

"_But isn't he married?"_ She remembered his wife from the preliminary TV transmission of the trial.

"_Yeah! And he asked Chief Keller to keep the secret, but he also promised us to__ use all his connections to burn our asses if we don't find his baby quickly. The girl has been missing for three weeks! You know what it means…"_

"_Yeah…"_ 'It means that her chances are narrowing to zero', she thought sadly. _"Have you found anything that could relate the kidnapping to revenge for his exposure?"_

"_We've been through that all day and we haven't been able to find any solid proof. You know Kate is very thorough, and her findings as well as Nigel's don't reveal any connections with the bribery… I'm busted_"

The weariness in his voice distressed her. _"Come"_ She motioned him, touching his arm smoothly.

He tossed his shoes away with his feet and came nearer to Jordan's side, resting his head on the pillow and laying his back on the bed. Jordan inclined a little and she started to massage his shoulders, trying to take away the tension that he felt.

"_Mmmh, it feels good…"_ He closed his eyes, taking pleasure in her affection, but a sudden idea assaulted his mind. His worry leaked trough his now open eyes. _"Are you still taking amoxicillin? Are you feeling good?"_

"_What?"_ She wondered why he was so anxious about her taking antibiotics. She wasn't sick anymore… He was trying to read her as if she was neglecting to tell him the truth. Oh! This man was both, adorable and unbearable. "_No and yes… why?"_

"_Because Susan's reaction to penicillin was horrible, I don't even want to imagine something like that happening to you."_ He was truly concerned about that picture.

"_Woody, many people are allergic to penicillin but that severe reaction is unusual. I'm not allergic, and you don't have to worry about a thing."_ She teasingly touched his nose with her index finger.

He took advantage of their positions and captured her, holding her firmly between his arms. "_I love you"_ He whispered against her lips.

She didn't answer with words. She felt his wet lips against her own mouth and his warm breath going through her skin. She shuddered in pleasure… Then she kissed him, experiencing a new and comforting sensation of delight, he tasted like strong coffee and Woody. Their kisses had always been like this… like different flavors in an ice cream shop. They had been testing each and every kind of flavor whenever they had the opportunity.

She kept lying on his chest for a moment, relishing more of his flavored kisses.

Oh yes! Life had been gentle to her lately…

"_Everybody knew that she was allergic…"_ He uttered, feeling depressed after a while. They had been resting on the bed enjoying each other's closeness. Jordan was curled up on his chest and she was almost back to sleep when he spoke.

"_Mmmh"_ In her sleepy mind she was trying to understand what he was talking about. It was funny how fatigue took over her pretty often these days. She blamed it on recovering from pneumonia but deep down she knew something different was happening to her…

* * *

Bug and Nigel were chatting at their desks when Jordan appeared at the corridor. Almost two weeks back to work after confinement, and after _the big event_, and things seemed to sink back to normal. She was late, and rushing to get to wherever she needed to go, struggling to drink while she ran with a huge, hot caffeine beverage in her hand.

Nigel hurriedly caught up with her, gripping her arm tightly. _"Hey, let me see why I'm still chained to this desk._" She was taken by surprise but managed to hold the liquid so it didn't spill. Nigel grabbed her free hand, the one with the ring on, taking the time to admire it.

"_Again?"_ She answered annoyed; for it was the way he had been greeting her everyday.

"_Yup, it keeps reminding me that the impossible can happen."_

She smiled and raised her eyebrows in defeat. _"You're lucky I'm in such good mood today, Nige_" She recovered her hand from his hold and made a waving gesture while she said "_Carpe_ _Diem… I'm enjoying the ride…"_ Then, she coughed lightly and uttered solemnly:

"_The question, O me! So sad, recurring—What good amid these,_

_O me, O life? _

_Answer._

_That you are here—that life exists, and identity;_

_that the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse."_

"_It's Walt Whitman now?"_ Bug grinned at her.

"_Uhu_" She nodded lightheartedly.

"_Whitman's good, but I've always found Cavafy's more enchanting…"_ Nigel adopted a serious position and cleared his throat.

"_As you set out for Ithaka _

_hope your road is a long one, _

_full of adventure, full of discovery. _

_Laistrygonians, Cyclops…"_

He was interrupted by the sober and rough voice of Garret, who had been watching the interaction behind Jordan's back. "_The best part of that poem is where it takes you after the travel._" He continued:

"_Better if it lasts for years, _

_so you're old by the time you reach the island, _

_wealthy with all you've gained on the way, _

_not expecting Ithaka to make you rich._

Bug raised his hand and asked, "_May I?"_

Garret just nodded and granted with his hand.

"_Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. _

_Without her you wouldn't have set out. _

_She has nothing left to give you now."_ Bug finished.

Everybody grinned. Their spirits filled with the promise of a good day to come.

"_So, let's go to work"_ Garret said tapping Jordan's back. And they continued walking trough the hallway together.

"_I'm taking it into notice that you're having a good time, Jordan_." He glanced seriously at her.

"_Honestly? I'm scared to death, but I have to admit that my life is better now."_ She paused and glimpsed gravely at him. "_Mostly, the sex has been fantastic."_

"_You didn't have to be that specific."_ Garret frowned and looked exasperated in response.

"_Aren't you my bestest girlfriend?"_ She said with a mock smirk. She couldn't hold back a small laugh after that.

"_Seriously, Gar, I'm happy. Woody is the most wonderful man I've ever met, but…_" She waved her head from side to side thoughtfully and biting her lips slightly. "_I feel a little anxious. Like if I closed my eyes everything would vanish, be swept away…_" She narrowed her eyes making a gesture of apprehension and shrugged.

"_You just have to get used to it. Nothing's gonna disappear. You deserve to be happy, so let it happen. Woody's waited a long time for you to be ready. Don't waste it."_ He made her stop and grabbed her shoulder sternly, making sure that she would listen to what he was saying and then he pressed her against his side, firm and lovingly.

"_Thanks Gar. You're truly my bestest girlfriend."_ Her voice was trembling, but the warm hug had done its work, as her fears seemed to have lifted at the moment.


	6. Pictures of You

Chapter 6. **Pictures of You**

Tiredness was her new name. She was tired in the morning; she was tired at noon and afternoon, by the time it came to the night she couldn't stand the sleep. She was tired all day.

Maybe she needed to take some tests to be sure that she was OK. For a brief instant she feared that her meningioma was back, nonetheless the symptoms weren't the same. She wasn't dizzy or hallucinating. She was just tired.

It might be as well, the unexpected resolution of her life. Being engaged… being in a stable, normal, non-neglected relationship with Woody. Maybe it was too much for her. She was following Garret's advice and was going to let it happen, she was enjoying happiness that much.

She just needed some rest. Performing two autopsies and filling the subsequent paperwork had taken their toll on her.

Lunch hour was long forgotten. She had made plans with Woody to get to the deli that had just opened two blocks away from the morgue, but a new development on the Byrne's case had ruined the plans, so, she was now tired and hungry.

She considered for a moment what was more urgent, sleep or food. It turned out that she found herself drowsy on the couch while she was making a decision, so the answer was pretty easy now. She laid down on the couch, closing her eyes for a second. She just needed a moment to rest.

Life outside her head came in noises, voices, people walking and whispering, people leaving and vanishing… silence.

A foggy memory was surfacing to her mind… Sensations and feelings she didn't remember until now… It was cloudy but she found herself excited for what she was recovering from her sub-consciousness…

"_Jordan, honey, please stop playing with the water. Remember that you were very sick yesterday, your throat was hurting you… please listen to your mother…"_ What was going on? The voice of her mother was as clear as if she was there with her. The impression of reliving that moment was getting stronger. She could even smell something that her mother was cooking… her special soup for sick little-girls.

The surroundings were becoming clearer and more vivid. She was in her house… her childhood house. Suddenly she could recognize everything… the kitchen, the dining room, the stairs that led to the uppers rooms… She was running and stopped in front of the big mirror with the golden edges that used to be at the entrance door… and what she saw was a little girl, no more than six… she saw herself in the mirror and she was six. Her big whisky-colored eyes were amazed from her reflection. She was wearing a dress… a beautiful blue dress with a white ribbon on the waist. She remembered how she loved that dress; it was her costume for special occasions. Where was she going? What was the special occasion?

Out of the blue, her mother appeared behind her reflection in the mirror. She became paralyzed… she had wet her dress and her mother was going to be mad at her. She hurriedly turned to face her mom and discreetly hid the wet part of her skirt with her little hands. It was almost impossible to do as the part was huge and in the front. Her mother smiled at her but immediately faked a serious face.

"_Jordan._" She spoke firm and sober, "_I told you honey that water was forbidden, remember?" _

Little Jordan nodded. She couldn't take her eyes away from looking to the ground, she knew that she had transgressed the rule, but the big boat her father had given her was splendid! It was such a waste of water not sinking the boat in the bath.

Oh! Now she remembered it was her birthday! It was her sixth birthday to be precise.

"_Now we're gonna have to change your cloths_" Her mom was very stern, but Jordan didn't want to take her dress off. They were going to visit her grandma, at her big house. There were going to be lots of friends that her grandma had invited; and a big, big cake. She wanted to be beautiful, and that was her very special dress.

"_No mommy, please. It's not that wet. Look_" she took her mom's hand and placed it on the fabric to show her that the skirt was barely wet. She didn't notice the part that had droplets hanging and falling to the ground…

Her mom couldn't hold back the smile this time; she sat on her heels and kissed her daughter lovingly on the cheek.

"_Look honey, we have to take your dress off, but I'll make you a deal."_ Emily waited a second looking into Jordan's eyes to be sure her daughter was getting the message. The girl kept her eyes wide open and expectant of the punishment she deserved… "_I'm gonna iron the skirt to dry it meanwhile you eat your delicious soup for sick little-girls."_

"_Oh, that! Yes mommy" _she rushed to answer before her mom could take the punishment back. She loved that soup and her little tummy was making strange noises, she was hungry already.

She ran upstairs to take the dress off and changed so she could get back and eat the soup. When she finished her meal, she went to check if her mom had her dress dry and ready. The door of her parents' bedroom was ajar and she could hear her mom talking. Who was she talking to? There was nobody else but the two of them at the house. She had been told not to interrupt any kind of conversation, and although her need of her clothes was huge she managed to keep quiet outside the room, waiting for her mom to finish her conversation.

"_Why didn't you buy a doll or something more suitable for a little girl? She got all wet playing with the boat"…_

"_Mmmh, aha, she asked for it. Why didn't she tell me that? You know what? Forget it. What time are you gonna be at the party?"…_

"_What? From all the days of the week you pecked today?"…_

"_I don't care a dime if they need you or if Boston collapses if you don't go to this occasion, you hear me? My mother has invited the entire Beacon Hill's society and she is expecting us… you just can't …"_

"_I told you I don't care… I warn you Max, if you don't go with me I'll find somebody…"_

"_It's not a threat, it's a promise…"_

"_There are many men that are expecting me to call in this very moment, if I wanted I would have a retinue of attendants… This is important, it's Jordan's birthday and my mom is making a big deal about it. Do you want her to tell me again how wrong I was to marry you?"..._

"_Fine!!"…_

Her mom was sobbing.

It was pretty clear to her that her mom had been talking with her dad and that they had fought because of her…

She didn't want her to cry. She didn't know for sure why she was crying. Was it because her dad gave her the boat? Or was it because she got all wet playing with it? She was just thrilled with the present her dad gave her. Every time they visited the toy store she went to where the boat was exhibited and admired it for hours. Her dad must have suspected that she liked it…

She didn't get wet on purpose and she didn't do that to make her cry…

Jordan entered the room in silence and came along side her mom. Emily didn't notice the presence of her daughter; she was sitting on a chair behind the night table, the auricular of the phone already in its place. She was covering her face with her hands and letting misery invade her.

"_Mommy, don't cry please. I promise I won't do it again, but please don't cry_" She was tapping her mom's hair softly trying to take away the sorrow.

Emily was startled by the sudden appearance of her daughter and struggled to calm down.

"_Hey honey, did you finish your soup?"_ Emily took a handkerchief from the table and started to dry her tears while she managed to take deep breaths between her words. Jordan nodded in response, her sweet intent to calm her mother still in motion.

"_Don't worry honey; I'm not sad any more… Come; let's get ready for your party. Your dress is set."_ She controlled herself and got on her feet. Jordan gave her a strong hug with all the force she could muster grabbing her mom by the waist. Emily's heart melted by her kindness… Jordan wasn't letting the absence of her father stain her birthday. Her daughter was going to be the most gorgeous girl of all the Boston high society heirs.

"_Will you let me fix your hair? Look, I have the most beautiful ribbons to match the one on your dress… What do you say?"_ Jordan glanced at the ribbons and her eyes sparkled, they really matched the dress' ribbon.

"_Yes! And can I wear a little lipstick, please? Just like the one you're wearing now mommy, pleeeaase?"_ Her mother smiled at her and grabbed the said article. Jordan struggled to keep still while her mom was applying the color on her mouth.

"_Ok, but just a little, you're way too young to wear this… aha… there_." Emily was admiring her daughter, she looked beautiful; despite the lipstick, or the dress, or the ribbons, or the attractive baby face she had, the sparks in her eyes were showing the clever and caring small lady her daughter was inside. She certainly wouldn't be as weak or foolish as she was, wasting her life in that dump because she was in love with a man that interposed work and didn't take care of his wife. She would have a life beyond that of a man. And she wouldn't be as harsh as her own mom was to her, making her daughter's life unbearable because of her choices, and because she wasn't the upper class housewife she wanted her to be…

"_You're such a smart and loving girl, Jordan. You're gonna be an extraordinary grown up woman… beautiful, intelligent, strong…My kind little girl…" _She tenderly embraced her, taking pleasure in her softness and her sweet scent.

Jordan couldn't get any prouder of herself after what her mom had said about her. She would do anything to fill those high standards. Her life would be committed to that.

For a long moment they were enjoying their clothing arrangements, but the things Jordan was dreaming about became more and more cut, and in long transition periods…

Jordan was now combing her mom's hair…

They were laughing and she was jumping excited, she didn't know why…

Her mom was kissing her once and again, it was such a warm sensation that she didn't want it to end…

Ongoing experiences got diffused and the memory of her mother was slowly disappearing. She wasn't able to hear her or touch her anymore…

She started to get distressed because she didn't want to let it go, but consciousness was gradually returning to her…

She woke up shocked by the hasty recognition of where she was and that daylight had disappeared. The awkward feeling of loss punched in her stomach. The ache of despair and solitude fiercely attacked her.

Woody was sitting on the floor at her side. He was resting his head on his crossed arms on the couch beside Jordan's head. It seemed that he had waited for ages for her to wake up. He had equally fallen asleep and felt disoriented from an abrupt awakening as she had been a second before him. They were in darkness; surely he had arrived when daylight was still filling the room.

"_What? What is it?"_ He lifted his head from the couch and barely understood where he was and didn't remember how he got there on the floor. Then he focused on Jordan's anxious features and acknowledged what was going on. _"Are you alright, honey?"_

Jordan fixed her sight on him but not truly looking at him. _"That was what she called me…" _she whispered, so low that Woody wasn't certain that she had spoken.

"_What did you say?"_ She had been acting strange lately. And now she was getting tired quite easy. In fact, he didn't know if she had even dowsed off in her office during the day… She used to at nights when she recently got back from LA, they had told him so, before he knew her, but not since the time he actually had known her. It must be something wrong with her.

His words snapped her from her reverie, she finally watched him, noticing his presence. "_What are you doing here?"_

"_I was waiting you to wake up, honey_" As he was unguarded of his words because of his still smoggy awareness, the 'honey' thing had been sliding without alarm.

"_That's it._" she sadly acclaimed, _"That's_ _why I don't like anybody calling me that! She always referred to me as her 'honey'; it's her right and her right only!"_

Now, she wasn't making any sense to him, _"I don't know, Jordan, it seems to me that you're still sick, wouldn't it be a good idea to visit the doctor, take some tests to be sure your recovery is on track? This isn't your normal self. I'm worried…"_ He made sure this time not to mention the forbidden word again, but what he couldn't do was hold back his concern.

Jordan managed to control herself, her distress was transforming into melancholy, her discovery to grief. She was starting to experience the real grief of losing her mother at such an early age… Not the gloomy and striking scene of her mother's murder, but the warm and loving mother that was committed to her daughter when she was still alive. She had been blessed with some memory pictures of that woman… Her mom… She would tell Woody, in its proper time, not now, but when she felt ready to do so…

"_Yes, Woody, I promise tomorrow morning I'm gonna take some blood to perform the tests. But I already know that I'm not sick. You don't have to worry"_ She looked into his eyes and her reflection of a grown up woman amazed her, not because she didn't know that she wasn't dreaming, but because she knew her daydreams had became true, for what she saw in his eyes was the woman her mom had seen within her ages ago…

"_You know I love you?"_ She murmured in his ear.

"_I had my suspicions."_ He answered; kissing her as if that was the last kiss he was granted to give her…

"_Let's grab something to eat, I'm starving._" She mumbled after his very much mind-blowing kiss.


	7. Boys Don't Cry

_Did you really think I was going to be fluffy and sweet until the end of this story?_

_But bare with me guys, if there's no salt, where's the flavor? _

_Please let me know if you are enjoying my story and review!_

* * *

Chapter 7. **Boys Don't Cry**.

"_There has to be something wrong."_ she muttered looking at the results of the blood analysis she had just collected.

"_What's wrong?"_ he almost yelled snatching the paper from her hands and reading what it was there. But he only came frustrated as everything on that paper seemed to be written on a foreign language… chemical language to be specific. He groaned _"I don't understand._"

Now it was Nigel who snatched the paper from Woody's hands and read it. After a quick eye inspection on the list written there, he stopped on a line exclaiming "_Sweet Nancy!"_, and uttered almost in question. "_High levels of hCG…"_ He glanced mischievously at Jordan. "_I would say five weeks or so, love… Is it ummm… yours right?_" He waved the paper in front of her face. She grabbed her analysis from Nigel's hand and inspected it one more time.

Now Woody's anguish was at breaking point, he had heard that acronym before, and if not was for his anxiety he would have remembered what it meant. "_What's wrong?"_ He repeated looked intensely at Jordan.

She was white as if she had seen a ghost. "_I'm pregnant."_

Woody lost his balance; he took a few steps backward in an effort to recover and frowned. He was trying to process the information. "_What? How?"…_ He mumbled, but after a swift recovery he asked again. "_But how did that happen?"_

Jordan glared at him. _"Do you need an explanation?"_

"_No… I mean… I… I…"_ he stammered struggling to connect a word with an idea. _"I thought you said you were on the pill…" _He was embarrassed beyond limit, not only because of how stupid his question had sounded, but because the Gossip Queen was witnessing the whole thing. Nigel was watching him amused, a wicked grin plastered on his face.

"_Yes! But I think the antibiotics did the trick_…" Jordan headed hurriedly to the door of the morgue's lab and in a second she was on the corridor.

"_The antibiotics?"_ Woody ran after her, leaving his worrying about Nigel's gossip far behind his concern. Jordan's frantic rush left his sixth foot frame working so little on catching up with her. Jordan finally arrived her office and he managed to get into it past her, just an instant before she slammed the door shut. "_The antibiotics?"_ He managed to say again while he recovered his breath.

Jordan collapsed on her couch and covered her face with her hands. He knelt down in front of her, gently touching her knees.

"_I wasn't planning on this."_ She said distressed at the time she shook her head. Then she took her hands away and she gazed at Woody's troubled eyes. _"I can't have this baby."_

Woody blinked and paled, his mind working extra hard in an effort to understand what was going on, what was on Jordan's mind and what did he want out of all that…

Jordan was pregnant… with his child…

She didn't want the baby. He had some vague ideas about her denial, some of them surely concerning Jordan's mom. But could it be something about having _his_ baby? She had agreed to marry him, having a child was the next thing to discuss on the list. He remembered how he considered the idea of being a father quite appealing, when Jordan was holding Maddie a few days ago.

He truly wanted to be a father, and specifically he wanted a child with Jordan.

But… he wanted Jordan to be happy more than anything… Did that mean that he had to support her on… not having the baby?

"_Jordan please, tell me why… I know it wasn't on your schedule, and we haven't discussed it yet, but… what it's wrong with us having a baby, hon…?"_ Then it occurred to him that something more powerful could have been interfering. "_Is it something about your health? Is that what is wrong?"_

He really wanted a kid, his desire leaked trough his eyes. But as much as she would want to satisfy him, that was beyond her capacity. Having a child would mean dealing with odds, and hers were for losing. Woody didn't deserve it, neither did she. "_Sometimes meningiomas have the tendency to grow and increase on size during pregnancy… my age doesn't help…I still have a remnant that they couldn't take away." _She sighed and lowered her head, her voice was almost inaudible_ "There is a chance that the meningioma doesn't evolve;_ _it is feasible in most cases to continue to full–term delivery without endangering the… mother or fetus. In most cases, the meningioma reduces after delivery because the fall in the progesterone level … If the meningioma grows there are treatments, some drugs that could help to prevent its enlarging…_" She was silent for an instant, and then she lifted her face to look at him_ "I could have some tests to identify if I could have a recurrent meningioma… an MRI…"_ Her voice finally failed.

"_You have been doing research"_ It wasn't a question, it was a realization.

Jordan had considered having a child.

But after what she had just said, that was out of any thought. They could be happy together… without a child.

He felt a heavy load oppressing his chest. She had been dealing with that alone. It was such a bad joke from life to make them endure that crap.

One more loss…

She had tears in her eyes.

He had tears in his eyes.

He kissed her lips softly and then he sat behind her on the couch. _"Come._" He whispered and embraced her. "_We'll beat it, honey… you're not alone."_

* * *

"_Have you seen Woody around here?"_ Kate swung the lab's door; she was carrying a plastic bag with evidences.

Nigel's eyes sparkled "_Fancy you ask, he was here a minute ago. It's strange you haven't bumped into him on the hallway_."

Kate was oblivious about how excited Nigel was about her asking for the detective. "_No, I didn't see him. There's new evidence on the Byrne's case and he said he was on his way."_ She left the bag on a table and was preparing to examine whatever was on that bag. Nigel stood just behind observing what she was doing; she could feel his breath on her neck. He had some intentions she was not comfortable with. He had actually placed a hand on her waist. That kind of closeness bothered her while she was working, and Nigel didn't seem to understand that. _"Do you mind?"_ It wasn't a question, it was a command. She pushed him making her mind very clear.

"_You're not fun"_ He said frustrated. But he quickly recovered as he remembered why he was excited in the first place. _"I have a big announcement concerning our dear Jordan and her fiancé."_ He examined the effect he had made on her. Kate turned to face him looking a _little_ interested, she knew he was expecting that from her and she could pretend… _"Jordan_ _is pregnant."_ He ended triumphant.

Kate frowned _"I don't think it's a good idea… Did she tell you?"_

"_No, I was here when she found out a moment ago. I can tell they weren't planning on it, and she certainly didn't look pleased with the notice…"_ He was confused, he thought the news were extraordinary. First their engagement, then the baby, like a normal couple and a normal gossip.

"_That's because it's not a good notice Nigel, meningiomas and pregnancy don't get along… So, is Woody with her right now?"_

"_Yes, he dashed behind her after she discovered her__ condition…"_

"_Well, I think these"_ and she showed the different articles exposed on the table to Nigel, "_can wait for him_".

* * *

"_Lily, can I have a word with you?"_ The misery in Woody's voice alarmed her, and although she had tons of work to do, her friend seemed to need her more than the pile of papers in front of her.

"_Sure, Woody. What can I do for you?"_ She moved a chair and motioned him to sit along side her. He did as she requested, falling down with all his weight. He was silent for a long moment, looking to the table of the conference room as if it had some kind of clue about what he had been searching for. Lily just waited for him to be ready… It must be a huge issue he was troubled about.

"_Jordan is pregnant"_ He finally managed to say.

Lily was puzzled_, "Isn't it good news? I believed that's what you wanted… I mean, marrying her and having children."_

"_I believed it too, Lily. But now I don't think is a good plan_" Lily waited again for him to explain._ "It was an accident; Jordan is on the pill but the penicillin she had to take because of her pneumonia suppressed the effect, and now she is pregnant… One month or so. We just found out… But she can't have the baby…"_

"_Can't or doesn't want?" _Her puzzlement began to turn to concern.

"_It might sound very un-Jordan, but this time… she can't."_ He barely kept his tears at bay. His eyes seemed like strangely sad sapphires.

"_I don't understand Woody, why…"_

"_There is a big chance the meningioma returns and enlarges because of her pregnancy. She explained to me there is a big risk, but I also know now that she had actually wanted a child… And I really wanted to have a child with her… but… I want her more, you know?..._" His voice was faltering. He had to stop in order to gather himself. "_And after I thought we had agreed on an abortion, she… she…"_ He had to take a big breath before he could speak again. "_She said she needed to explore the possibilities of her pregnancy… but... I'm terrified if she chooses to have the baby. She said she wanted to wait until the very last minute to make a decision. She started to talk about MRIs and monitoring for the next month… I don't know, I didn't understand the major part of what she was talking about…"_

Her concern turned to shock. But as hard as the situation was, Woody required more of her. "_I know it is very difficult to honor her wish but I think we have no other option… We'll have to live with it and support her… you have to support her."_

"_You don't understand, Lily! It's Jordan we're talking about!"_ He was frustrated; he had wanted her to say that everything would be Ok, that Jordan would be Ok. That Jordan would choose not having the baby, and instead of that Lily was telling him something that he didn't want to hear. _"Sorry… sorry… I didn't mean to… It's just that… It's…"_ He collected himself again. _"My mother died when I was four… she died of cancer… She may have lived a little longer if she would have chosen not having her baby… my brother Cal. Because of him she decided not having the treatment when they found out about the cancer, and after his birth, it was already too late."_

Now Lily was beginning to understand where he was coming from, along with the striking news about her beloved Jordan, his personal experiences left unconquered were magnifying the circumstances."_Do you regret your brother being born? Do you think your mother regretted having him?"_

"_Mmmhh… No, I love my brother. I don't think he's to be blamed for what my mom chose. He hasn't taken advantage of his own life, though. Sometimes I think that was such a waste of life… But Jordan is different. Now that we had finally met each other on the same page… I don't want to lose her… I don't…"_ He was collapsing just in front of Lily's eyes. This wasn't what she had envisioned for them, but she would make sure something good would came out of all it at the end.

She met Woody's eyes and with all the kindness and all the strength she could muster, she said, "_Jordan is not your mom and you're not that child anymore." _

He lowered his head and she knew he was trying to block the reality, so she took his head firmly with her hands and forced him to look at her. "_You're a man… an honest, strong and caring man." _

When she was certain that he was listening to her, she freed him from her grip._ "Jordan loves you and she needs you. She needs to be sure that whatever her decision would be, you would always be at her side to support her. Because it is her life what's on the table, and she doesn't have it easy. She is between you, her, and your child… You have to mourn your mom, not her. Jordan is alive and I'm completely sure that whatever she chooses, it would always be for the best. She's a smart woman and has waited for you since forever, even when she didn't know she was doing it. Have some faith in her… Woody, come on… you can cry now, but after this you have to be tough and reliable."_

And he cried. He cried until he thought all the tears he had for a lifetime were consumed.


	8. In Between Days

_Again. Thanks to you reader, thanks to you reviewer, and specially thanks to you, Kat!_

_

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Chapter 8. _**In Between Days.**_

Kate heard the doors swing open, and lifted her eyes from the evidence she had been testing. _"Hey Woody, how is Jordan doing?"_ she said without troubling to explain why was she asking such thing.

Woody glared at Nigel, who was trying to hide behind his screen computer. _"Nigel!"_ he hollered to the criminologist.

"_What__?__ You didn't tell me it was a secret!"_ Nigel shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Then, he stood up and stepped behind the young detective. "_How is she?"_ He was truly concerned about Jordan's condition. Nigel didn't fail to notice, the red, and swollen eyes of his friend. That wasn't a good sign…

"_I don't know, fine I guess…"_ Woody understood immediately that it wasn't just a matter between two lovers, or a juicy gossip that they were talking about, but a serious fear about one member of their family. _"We didn't plan on this pregnancy and Jordan told me __it __is high risk. Yet, she wants to explore it before we decide on anything…"_ He shook his head. _"I don't know if I'll be able to handle it… but if she wants to do it I'm in."_ He shrugged and changed to professional mood.

"_So Kate…"_

"_Yes."_ She motioned him to move beside her. _"Here is the new evidence the CSU people sent us. They made their report, I'm just confirming some results_" She handed Woody a manila envelope. "_They delayed this investigation way too long to my liking; I think Nigel would have been __a __much better choice for this."_

"_The Council office insisted on this procedure, Kate, it wasn't my idea. And I totally agree with you, but Councilor O'Brien has his own way… and his connections."_ He sighed and flipped over the sheets of the file he extracted from the envelope. "_The Councilor has been interfering with this investigation__ because of__ his own prejudice…"_ Woody glanced to Kate and shook his head. "_It's almost __as if__ he wanted to buy time and bury evidence that could compromise him…"_

Then, he started to inspect what the report contained. _"But, we checked that already…"_ He frowned and exclaimed, disconcerted. _"Wait a minute, what is __this__?"_ He rested the file on the desk behind, and leaned forward over it to get a better view.

"_Are you now over the baby's condition?"_ She smirked. _"I thought you would __be interested__…"_ She came near Woody and perched her arm on his shoulder inclining a little looking at the file. _"She __was frequently at__ a doctor who happens to be __on__ a long vacation in…"_

"_Hawaii…"_ Woody pinned his index finger on a line of the sheet he was reading.

Kate nodded and straightened, gripping her arms from behind her back. _"Precisely, so that's why we didn't know anything about it, and it seems very odd to me that the Councilor hadn't told us something like that…"_

"_You know? You're right…"_ He jabbed a finger at her and strode to the door. _"A heart defect needs medicine… and doctors… I think it's time to have a little chat with our Councilor…"_

"_Wait Woody,"_ Kate made a stop sign with her hand_. "We have more for you… Come."_ She beckoned him to follow her – to the table with the evidences she was examining. She showed him a glass with remnant of lipstick on its corner. _"You see this?"_

"_They didn't check it?"_

"_They did, but… the CSU people assumed it was from Susan, as there were six dirty glasses on the kitchen counter__,__ and two more on the table. They reported all of them_ _used only by her, including the one that contained traces of Rophynol… this one_." she signaled one of the said glasses which seemed to be pretty similar to the one Kate was highlighting on the other side. "_The color of the lipstick it's the same, the fingerprints are Susan's and the lipstick marks left are almost equal… but as I said… almost."_

"_What are you saying?"_

"_That they aren't from Susan… I had my suspicious since the size of the marks are a little different, so I asked Nigel to recreate different kinds of mouths wearing lipsticks, sipping from this kind of glass… Show him Nigel."_

Nigel gleamed, pushing Woody a little to lead him to his computer. _"Look."_ He said while he pressed a key on his keyboard. On the computer screen appeared two different heads of woman using red-colored lipsticks and then appeared two glasses. Each of the heads sipped one glass and left their marks, then the mouths of each head were magnified and extracted from the head, to be compared one upon the other and showing peculiar dissimilarities… then the marks on the glasses were magnified and compared, it could be appreciated that the marks had different characteristics depending on the shape of the mouth. Nigel reproduced three more different recreations with different kinds of mouths.

"_So, I´m extracting what's left on this glass… maybe we can get some DNA from saliva if there's any on this sample…__"_ Kate concluded when the images stopped. "_But, I think our suspect is a woman. And we need to find that particular lipstick among Susan's belongings, maybe our perpetrator used it."_

"_Wow, you two are quite a team!"_ Woody was excited, they definitely had a lead. "_This woman must have known Susan… she was in her apartment as a guest, Susan offered her a drink… then Susan must have shared a drink with her… the murderer put __it there,__ the roofie__,__ and drugged her__;__ and then she injected the penicillin knowing that Susan was allergic. Our mystery woman may have been wearing gloves… strange but not impossible, what's really odd it's that she was wearing the same lipstick."_

"_Maybe the Councilor knows something; he's been hiding some important information from us. It doesn't look good for him."_ Kate remarked.

"_Ok, I have to stop at Susan's apartment before I talk with the Councilor; we need to find that lipstick… So, Nigel, are you free right now?" _

Nigel nodded, grabbing his suitcase with the equipment to collect evidence from crime scenes. _"Coming."_

Both men rushed toward the elevators, but on his way, Woody noticed that Jordan was talking with Garret in his office. It was a normal thing, two coworkers talking about work stuff… but the expression on Dr. Macy´s face told him it wasn't anything related to work. That image was fixed in his mind when the door's elevator shut.

* * *

"_Jordan, you can't be serious! You know it's dangerous in many freaking ways!"_ Garret's face was weary and his tone was desperate. He started to pace back and forth in front of Jordan, never taking his eyes off her figure.

"_I hope you won't be relieving me from duty because of this, Garret. It's not like the last time, I'm not ill, I'm pregnant."_ She spoke firmly. Her relationship with Garret had evolved into a genuine father-daughter one. She was confronting him, making it very clear what she had in mind.

Garret was concerned, and although he usually took the right decision, his mind was clouded when it came to his personal life. It had occurred to him with Maggie, when they divorced, and when she tried to come back after the boyfriend fiasco; with Lily when they started to see each other, and he let his mess with Maggie interfere; with his real daughter, Abby, after her many troubles with boyfriends and drugs; with his own drinking problem, didn't notice when it transformed him into an alcoholic, a hitch that beat Reneé out of his life too; and, finally, with Jordan. Jordan had always been his biggest problem, like a constant '_thorn in the ass__'_; she had literally said it to him.

Now, he was clouded with worry. He didn't understand how an intelligent woman like Jordan would put her life at stake again for something they had overcome. He thought that the meningioma event was in the back corner of nowhere. He was concerned _and_ frustrated. _"You may not be ill right now, but there's a big chance the meningioma reappears and enlarges, why would you take such a risk? Do you want this child that much?"_

Jordan tried to smooth things, she knew Garret cared a lot for her, and just to honor that kind of love she needed him to be at peace with her decision. _"I'm gonna be very careful this time… Checking with MRIs until the second month. I've already spoken with Dr. Sánchez about this. He told me it could be done if we are careful… If there's any chance I wanna take it. It's not like growing a plant or taking care of Evander, you know? It's my child… Woody's and mine."_

Garret wasn't about to give an inch on this battle. _"I would've thought you would be terrified with the idea of a child Jordan, it's not the same thing like with Kyla's…"_

"_You know Gar? I thought that too…" _She smiled at the idea "_I thought that given my mom's illness and my lack of motherhood instincts having a child would be a big, big mistake. But things are starting to look different__, for__ some time to now… I've actually remembered some stuff about my mom that is really good, comforting in many ways…"_ She closed her eyes relishing the memory… One more point she didn't remember until now. Thanks to Garret the dream was again in her consciousness. She was starting to feel euphoric. "_Moreover, Woody has __father-like__ instincts; he would be like a terrific mother… err father… whatever…"_ She chuckled, it was intoxicating… talking about why she did want to have this child. "_And I'm not such a bad person after all… This is something we didn't plan, and against any bet, it arose… maybe Life is trying to tell me something and I know now that I have to listen very carefully."_

"_What did Woody say?"_ He wasn't beaten; he just had loaded with ammo his weapons.

'Oh! That was a low!' She thought, now Garret was about to get her feel guilty. _"At first, he didn't like the idea. I know he wanted this child with all his heart before he learned about the risks. Then, he only talked about the abortion…" _She frowned and bit her lower lip._ "But then I realized how much I wanted to try." _She stared at him. "_I don't want to jeopardize our relationship… not anymore, I mean. I know I've sabotaged it many more times that I can remember," _She knew he had a point now, she was forcing Woody into this and she felt anger at Garret for letting it out in the open. She felt confused too, she needed to regroup, and she needed to find a good reason for leasing Woody in the middle of this… mess… "_But…we are in this together."_

"_Yes, but Woody's life isn't threatened, yours is… Wouldn't it be the same if you adopt a kid, Jordan? If all this is about you being a family I think that from where the child comes doesn't matter. You don't have to put yourself in danger…"_ The discussion was leading nowhere, and he knew it. It was now a matter of will, and his always lost against hers.

She was mad… at her, at Garret; at the infamous joke life was playing on her. She was mad because she wanted her child, and she may not be in a real position to let it happen.

But she may be as well. And that was her choice. _"I don't know anything yet, not for sure. I'm only telling you that I'm considering… seriously… __letting __this pregnancy __go to full term__."_ Her voice came out louder than she intended, her body already tense.

"_Jordan, I don't think is a good idea…"_ It wasn't a rational conversation anymore. He wasn't considering anything that Jordan said to be rational anymore.

"_That's all Garret! We're not having this discussion, Ok? At least not until I have made up my mind. But I must warn you… I'm just gonna let you know, I'm not asking for your permission!"_ And she stomped out of his office.

Garret shook his head and then lifted his hand to his temple. He had just lost the battle. Jordan's resolution left him drained. This new turn of events had been shocking and unexpected, but for Jordan's sake he needed to recover and think how to win the war.


	9. The Same Deep Water as You

_There's nothing explicit, but I want you to know that there is a reason for this story to be rated T... and maybe I should change it to M. So, please let me know what you think._

_If you are liking this story, you can tell me... please? It's too much effort and while I love to write, reviews ALWAYS encourage me to keep writing and trying to do it better. You readers are my food and my air. Thank you. _

_Thank you Kat!_

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Chapter 9.** The Same Deep Water as You**.

Woody was waiting for the secretary to introduce him to Councilor O'Brien. The very expensive and sober waiting room was a little intimidating but he was determined to talk with the Councilor without having to subpoena him. He didn't have enough evidence to get an order from the court, no more than a lipstick with Susan's fingerprints on it that showed nothing about their conjectures; an interfered investigation procedure, and some important facts about the baby that, if left unsaid, seemed more like negligence. That was inadmissible; the Councilor should be hiding something.

The young woman was flirting with the good-looking detective, while she was asking the Councilor to let him enter. Woody certainly knew how to use his charm to his advantage.

"_You can go in now, Detective."_ She informed him with silky voice. He threw at her, one last sparkling glance, before he entered the office. That was a practice that had never failed him. He immediately changed his stance to the professional and serious one.

"_Detective Hoyt."_ the Councilor lifted his face from the papers he was reading to greet him and offered him a chair with a hand movement. "_Please take a seat."_

The Councilor was a man in his fifties, big frame, at least as big as Woody's. His top was beginning to look bald and his white skin was already showing the damage of time, but his small green eyes penetrated everything he put his sight on. His voice was deep and confident; his body language screamed self assurance.

"_Good afternoon, Councilor, I won't take more than a few minutes from your time, Sir."_ Woody's tone was secure and determined. "_I know this is a very delicate matter, but I have some questions that I need to ask you."_

"_Proceed Detective, I want my Cynthia as soon as possible."_

"_Oh yes, about that, you must have to know that we are doing all we can with what we had from the investigation procedure you asked…"_ Woody inspected carefully the older man, masking his attention with innocence. He was trying to read every signs in the body, or the eyes that could tell him the councilor was uncomfortable and hiding. _"We have a medical report that says your baby has a heart condition, did you know about that?"_ his characterization of a naive, good-natured man running in his entire splendor.

"_Yes detective, I know… Susan and I were consulting the most qualified doctors on that subject… Cynthia's condition is very fragile, but she was doing fine… I know I didn't tell you this, it certainly doesn't look good for me… and I know I've been interfering with the investigation… but I have my reasons… and I think it's time to share them with you detective"._

Woody waited for the Councilor to continue, he wasn't fooled by the poised façade the other man was trying so hard to keep up.

"_Just after I went to you, asking to hurry up my baby's search, I received an e-mail … It was very specific… my baby girl was alright; and they gave information about her that told me it was true… They didn't want the police in their face and had threatened to kill her. I had to delay the investigation… They didn't ask for money or anything__ … It wasn't just like that… I consulted one of my geek experts and he couldn't find the source from where the messages that were sent. Different IPs, he told me… I don't know much about it … But it's getting out of control and I was planning to let you know all this… I think I can't handle it anymore; the messages are getting insane and angered. I have my own people doing research, even a profiler… Dr. Weir. She's one of the best… She told me that the kidnaper is losing perspective, that it was a matter of time until they decided to get rid of her… I was about to call Chief Keller when my secretary announced to me you were outside… I didn't know a moment ago if I could trust you, but it seems to me that you already suspected I was hiding something… I think I have no other option, detective… And it's true… I need my Cynthia as soon as possible. We are running out of time…."_ Councilor's confidence was vanishing as he was disclosing the information. It was as if his worst nightmare was coming true, as he voiced it out loud to the young cop in front of him.

"_We're gonna need full access to your mai__l, and all the information your team has gathered, Sir. And I want to talk to your profiler. When could it be possible to meet her?_

"_Sounds good; in a couple of minutes?"_

"_Just perfect."_

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"_Dr. Ann Weir, psychiatrist and profiler… a recognized expert in her profession." _O'Brien introduced the rather young woman, for an expert in her category. She was a tall and slender lady, her skin the color of chocolate; big, beautiful, green eyes and a scrutinizing gaze. She was wearing a well-cut, white suit.

She shook hands with Woody, _"Detective, we can keep our mask out of this… Cynthia's life is threatened; we need to work as a team. Don't you think so?"_

Straight and to the jugular, this woman was starting to look interesting. "_Yes doctor, we need to work fast, we already know that the murderer it's a woman…what do you know?"_

"_You're right…it's a she," _Her scrutinizing look penetrating his features. Dr. Weir was studying Woody's posture down to the small detail,_ "and 'she' is starting to feel anxious… she's almost out of control… She didn't intend to return the baby, maybe she wanted to keep her, maybe she wanted to disappear with her, but something is going on that she's losing it… I couldn't determine why she's doing this, but it's a big issue for her, that's for sure. The killing is out of anger; she has very harsh feelings for what Susan did to her…_"

"_We, the morgue team and I, think the same doctor… she worked out the murder to the tiny element… but she wasn't interested in killing the baby, there's no sign of medicines at Susan's apartment and we think it's very feasible the murderer took them along with the baby… If that turned out to be the case, this woman was very acquainted with Susan's life."_ Woody turned his attention to O'Brien_. "With your life."_

If she had to work with police, it would rather be with a smart one. Ann liked what she saw in him. "_I agree. You've been doing an excellent job with the little we let you know. I'm impressed, detective… Hoyt?"_ She was testing waters, did she have his trust or was he going to be reticent with his deliveries?

"_You can call me Woody, everybody does…"_ He was feeling confident beside her. He did like smart and assertive ladies… like_ his_ Jordan. This was going to be an interesting meeting. That was the only thing he was positive for the time being.

* * *

"_We need to find Cynthia; I think she's still alive… well, not just me, but O'Brien's team as well…"_ He was enjoying her sweet scent; Jordan's skin was soft and silky. That was something he treasured from her. After a hard day of work he could be sure that home was expecting him. She was curled up to his chest… almost naked… warm… tasty…

"_When did it change__ from being Susan's baby to… Cynthia?"_ She kissed his ear and was now sucking his earlobe, so he didn't understand what she had just said.

"_What? I can't… think… please…"_ What were they talking about? He didn't seem to remember…

"_Cynthia…"_ She was now un-doing his belt…

"_Who?…"_ His mind was numbed by her, so he could forget about his problems for a moment… Jordan's presence was overwhelming…

But suddenly she pulled the breaks on. Something was really bothering her. "_So, this 'profiler',"_ Jordan emphasized the title. "_Is she also attractive; or just intelligent?"_

"_Why doctor? Are you jealous?"_ the sing-song tone in his voice was playful, he didn't want to stop the action, and he was planting small kisses on her neck.

"_Woo__oody_." She pulled away gently but determinedly.

He drowned his look in her eyes. "_You ARE j-e-a-l-o-u-s."_ He was amazed by this new revelation. He had seen glints of this Jordan before the crash, and maybe that was what kept him waiting for her all these years, but he wasn't used to this un-walled beautiful woman in front of him. It was… awesome to know how much she cared for him.

She frowned. _"No. I'm only saying… I mean, you haven't been this enthusiastic to work with anybody but… me…"_ She coughed slightly, annoyed at what he was implying. _"Alright… I might be 'a little' jealous. But it's only because she's been able to help you with this case, as it seems it's getting to you…"_ It felt strange to be that open with somebody. She wasn't a bit used to, but lately it had been slipping away from her hands. Woody's confidence was growing on her… well, it was more like _his child_ was what was growing on her… she could always blame it on hormones…That and things that tended to happen between good-looking profilers and coworkers…

"_You're right. This case is wearing me out. It's that… you know what it is like when kids are involved… and yet, Cynthia is just an innocent baby… It's been a month... Ann thinks the kidnapper is edgy and the worst can happen…"_ He knew that the major reason he was worried about was Jordan's pregnancy… a baby to be saved in exchange for her mother's life. Very high price to pay… and too much too close to home; but he wasn't about to say it out loud, not until Jordan had decided on anything.

'So, it's_ Ann_ now? Focus Cavanaugh… Isn't he your best friend, your lover? This is not the reason you want to have his baby… isn't it?' She shook all these thoughts from her mind, convinced that hormones were tricking her. _"I think we need to work the Cavanaugh magic."_

"_What? You mean like… you being the victim, I the murderer?"_ It wasn't a good idea. That was precisely what he was trying to avoid.

"_Nope, more like you being the victim, I the murderer. Or is it that you don't want to be beaten by a woman… again?"_ She had the most mischievous look in her eyes.

"_Ha, ha… Not funny. She almost killed me…"_

"_Aha! That's what, you're gonna be, murdered!"_ She patted teasingly his arm; and stood up from the bed in a jump.

This wasn't what he had in mind a minute ago, but they could play a little. It had always worked out. He sighed and got on his feet less eager to do so than she had been.

Jordan changed her bearing abruptly to the professional Cavanaugh cover. _"Alright, so, you let me in at your apartment."_ She walked slowly pretending to enter while Woody-Susan was inviting her from the door to come inside. _"What were you?... surprised?"_

"_Mmmh… maybe a little, but mostly I might have been very pleased. I invited you for a drink, and it was a very expensive one, a hundred bucks per bottle… a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, … but the strangest thing was that I offered you to drink it from a glass, there were cups in Susan's kitchen… wine could be taken in a cup__, can't it?"_ Woody pretended to be leaking the wine into a glass

"_Aha… what if that was a kind of ritual between you and me. You must have known me pretty well, and I must have been very enraged to actually want you dead."_

"_What? Are you saying that they were lovers? But Jordan…" _He glimpsed at her with a funny and incredulous look_ "the murderer was a woman."_ He uttered these words at a snail's pace, in a way he expected Jordan would understand that that was very unlikely.

"_Women can be lovers too, Woody. Want me to show you?" _She pretended to dismiss her glass and take away Susan-Woody's as well.

"_I know that..." _He answered annoyed, but the jokingly manners of Jordan seemed to have returned as she was planting a passionate kiss to silence him. Very long kiss indeed, their lips pressed hard on each other, and his tongue searching its way into her mouth.

When they came apart, Woody was no longer interested in playing Susan; he had his own intentions now, and he was showing her what he wanted to do as he dragged her along him, to the bed again.

"_What are you doing? That's not what happens next."_ Jordan admonished him.

"_What do you mean? That's exactly what happens next."_ He mumbled hoarsely, his hands were all over her.

"_Stop it Woody! Didn't you understand?"_ Jordan pulled his hands away in an effort to get his attention again to the representation they were playing.

"_What? That you don't want me?"_ He was hurt… his manhood's pride completely damaged.

"_No, silly…"_ She knelt on the bed in front of him and kissed him kindly on the lips, and then she caressed, lovingly, his cheek with her index finger. _"I'm playing the killer and that was the way Susan's lipstick ended up on my lips. No men were visiting Susan, remember? No other men besides O'Brien… but what about women? Or more specifically, a woman in particular?"_

_"Oh!"_ Realization was sinking in. He hit the back of his head against the pillow at the time he laid completely on the bed.

She came nearer to him and whispered in his ear "_So... Susan... want to change the end of the story?"_ Jordan's devilish grin was very inviting to Woody's liking.

He smiled and captured her, bringing her down with him to the bed again. "_Mhm..."_

She kissed him hard, but this time Woody's manhood didn't come out of that damaged at all...


	10. Burn

Chapter 10. **Burn.**

There had been a multiple car crash, a terrible accident that had ended up as a pile of twisted steel and charred remains, after one of the gas tanks exploded. It had left five bodies almost unrecognizable. The autopsy room was filled. Three autopsies were being performed at the same time, so Kate, Bug and Jordan were there. Each one of them in charge of one body… and there were two more bodies awaiting.

The coroners were chatting as they worked on the corpses; this time Kate was talking to Jordan. _"I must confess that I was impressed when Woody told me about your guessing on the lipstick marks… I think I wouldn't have done better than you." _

"_Oh, well…"_ Jordan inclined her head a little and shrugged. The mask she was wearing didn't leave much to see of her face, but her tone was light as she talked, _"that isn't much of an issue, you know? You had almost done all the work; and then Dr. Weir had made assumptions about the murderer… I just filled in the blanks, that's all… By the way, is there any new information about that lead, DNA or something?"_

Kate lifted the cover of her mask, and rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand. Then she glanced at Jordan. _"The saliva sample was pretty degraded, I could extract some of it; but its taking time to reconstruct it. I had to send it to the CSU lab, but you know I always make a double, so, I sent the other sample to a good friend of mine at the Uni of Maine…" _She covered her face again and continued her job._ "I'm expecting the results in a week or so… meanwhile we'll have to deal with O'Brien's team and his good doctor-profiler. And Nigel is working on the e-mail… I hope he'll do a better job than the one O'Brien got to do that..."_

The conversation boosted their moods as they performed their grimy work. Finding out why a teenager boy, no more than fifteen, had died, wasn't pleasant. Added to the fact that they were looking to see if the drunken dad was the one who caused it. It was overwhelming for the majority of the people there.

Jordan sighed as she looked to the boy's feature. Then she shook her head. "_He should be playing football or inviting a girl to the prom…"_ She was thinking that the parent's job had been lousy, to say the least. She hoped, for herself, to be a better person than the ones that were taking care of this boy.

Kate detected Jordan's introspective reflection; she had been waiting for a moment to ask her, and she decided that was a moment, as good as any other, _"Jordan, I'm sure you know by now, we all are aware about your pregnancy dilemma."_

Bug lifted his head from the body he was examining, and like the two women, his face behind the mask wasn't telling much of his frame of mind, but his body language screamed alert. If anyone would have been watching him carefully, this anyone would have recognized that his eyes were tensed and expectant.

"_Oh yeah… about that."_ It wasn't a surprise for Jordan. On the contrary, she found it strange that nobody but Garret had fought with her about the matter. And of all the people that could be questioning her besides him, Kate probably was the one to be expected to do so_. "You don't have to worry… I've been monitoring my condition very carefully and Dr. Sanchez is following the development of the meningioma closely." _Jordan was struggling to extract, the boy's heart as best she could without spoiling it, and then she moved it to the plate for the weighing procedure. _"The MRIs show no sign of enlargement, and to my fortune, there is, in fact, shrinkage… maybe progesterone antagonist such as mifepristone…"_ She paused and looked to Kate, _"I was taking it before I knew… well, maybe it inhibited the tumor growth… or maybe after the second procedure Dr. Sanchez performed on me in an effort to take out the remains, there was central tumor necrosis… In benign meningiomas, like mine, extent of surgical resection is an important prognostic variable, such that five-year recurrence rates are five percent for totally resected, versus thirty one percent for subtotally resected cases. Mortality rates are negligible for such patients… I can ramble on, going to a large amount of possibilities… The only thing that I know for sure is that I've been lucky, and I expect I don't run out of luck for the rest of the show…"_

"_Why Jordan, why are you doing this? You know… I'm not questioning your decision… you're a grown up woman… intelligent… with a promising future… You're gonna get married and you've survived way too many obstacles in your life... I just want to understand…"_ While she reasoned, Kate was absorbed into putting the organs back to the father's body; her job was almost finished.

Bug hadn't been able to return to his work, this conversation had turned out to be too distracting. He was standing still, in front of the body of the young girl that had been a sister, and a daughter. It was infamous work indeed; he couldn't take his own thoughts away from her, and from Maddie, as his two friends talked.

"_That…that is something I'm still trying to figure out… It just feels like the right thing to do. My life has been founded on death, and… I feel I have to change it, I have to base it on life…"_

Kate was now suturing, _"Alright… it seems to me that this points to alcohol abuse. There's no sign of stroke, or any organ malfunction… we'll have to wait for the tox results, that's it."_

They'd been quiet for a moment, when they heard small laughs coming closer from the corridor. Suddenly, the autopsy's door opened, leaving to their view the source of the laughter. Woody and Dr. Weir were arriving. He had his hand placed on the small of her back.

Jordan hadn't met the good profiler yet, but she had enough references to recognize her as the beautiful woman that his fiancé was so kindly guiding to them. She was grateful for wearing the mask in that moment, as she felt her face turning red and hot. She had expected Dr. Weir to be beautiful and clever, as Woody always referred to her as '_Ann'_; she sensed he was attracted to her, that was… kind of normal. But witnessing their cheerfulness was too much to ask. Not that she was thinking they had something, or that they could be more than friendly coworkers, but still… The green monster inside of her was irrational, and she was pretty aware of it. She swallowed hard and made a great effort to find composure. She needed to be professional and centered.

Woody smiled at the coroners, but he paid special attention to Jordan's figure. That was something Ann didn't fail to notice. _"Hey!"_ He greeted them and added for Ann to hear _"this is our team of wonder medical examiners!"_ Then he tilted his head to Kate and added. _"We are looking for you, Kate."_

But she was still too busy with her work. _"Wait a minute, I'm almost done."_

"_Alright, we'll be at the conference room, could you please… er… meet us there?"_ But before she could answer him, he took into acquaintance the state of the bodies on the slabs and blurted out_, "bad barbecue ending, huh?... guys, there's still smoke coming up from these people…"_

Jordan felt abruptly enraged by his comment, too much disrespect for her liking. But she was, in fact, dealing with her jealousy. And she was losing her temper. _"Don't you dare make mock of this! Look at this boy! He's dead because his dad,"_ and she signaled to the body Kate was closing, _"had a hell of a party… and his baby sister," _then she signaled towards the girl that was on the slab behind Bug_, "is dead too…"_

Kate took out her mask and uttered rather calmly. _"We don't know for sure yet who's responsible for this, Jordan. We'll have to wait for the tox results, and the crash expert, we have to determine why the gas tank exploded; you know that is very unlikely to happen."_

Woody closed the space between him and Jordan grabbing her kindly by the waist and planting a small kiss on the side of her head that wasn't covered by the mask. He whispered in her ear_. "Sorry, it wasn't my intention…"_ Then he turned his face to look at Ann and said_, "I want you to meet my bride to be… Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh… You should know that it was her who deciphered the lipstick mystery."_ He was proudly glancing at his girlfriend.

"_Pleased to meet you, doctor. Very impressive job you did"_ Ann came closer to Jordan and offered her hand for a shake.

Jordan was thankful that she was still wearing her full autopsy costume, and masking her voice all she could with courtesy, she said. _"Excuse me, I can't…"_ She lifted her gloved-hands all covered in dark, sticky blood and showed them to Ann. She could easily have ripped off the precious hand of that model-type-profiler. She better not touch her.

Woody kissed Jordan again and walked to the door _"So, Kate… We'll be at the conference room… when you're finished, could you?"_

Ann followed the detective to the door as Kate answered, _"Yes, yes, I'll be there in ten minutes, Ok?" _

* * *

Jordan was watching, through the window of the conference room, the four people gathered there; Woody, Ann, Nigel and Kate. She had to fill in the paperwork concerning the boy's autopsy, but she didn't feel like it.

"_Any problems to share?"_ the peculiar voice snapped her from her trance. Stiles was standing besides her, looking as she had been, through the same window.

She made a gesture of annoyance, for all the people she didn't want to meet at that moment, Stiles was on the top of the list. _"It isn't my turn on the couch, Howie, the time is not even close." _She tried for a hasty retreat to her office, but the small man seemed to move magically, matching her long strides and arriving the same time as her to her place. _"Who sent you? Was it Lily?"_ and she stared at him as realization was sinking in, _"Garret."_

"_You think he needed to send me, Jordan? Why?"_ And he grabbed a comfortable seat on the couch.

Great, it was going to be the quiz freaking show. She wasn't in the mood. Never was the time when she was in the mood. _"What do you want Howie? I'm sure Garret put, on the front page, his disagreement with me."_ She performed, displaying with her arms as if she was discovering a poster or an advertisement. _"Big announcement, Jordan's pregnant, and she's out of her mind." _Then she frowned and collapsed on a chair. _"The first thing could be big news, but the second can hardly be called a notice, so…what do you want?"_

"_I'm here to ask you the same question, Jordan. What do you want?"_ He wasn't the least bit intimidated by Jordan's gestures. He folded his arms over his chest and waited peacefully for her to answer.

She closed her eyes, expecting that when she opened them again, the hobbit, reminiscent of a man was gone. She took a long moment to calm down, and when she opened her eyes, Stiles was still sitting on the couch. She sighed and resigned. If there was no other option, it might be better to take it smoothly. _"I want my life to be a real life, that's it, I said it!"_

"_What do you mean? Wasn't it real before you got pregnant?"_

"_I was living through my fears. I'm not my mom… It took me almost six years to accept I loved Woody… I almost died… twice… and he almost died twice too, before I told him so… Remember you asked me once if I regretted the choices that I had made? Well… I know the answer now… Yes, I regret many of them. I admit to you that I went home to an empty apartment every night, no family, no pets, I didn't even have a plant. Life's not supposed to be that simple. Not if you want to enjoy it… We all are going to die, someday; but until it happens to me, I want to enjoy every damn second of it… I'm taking all the precautions, I'm not on a true feasible danger, I'm making sure that everyone involved won't come out damaged by my choices, and I'm fine!"_

"_So, why are you so angry?"_

"_That's because of Barbie." _Did she just say it out loud? Hormones were really tricking her. Then, she muttered to herself, "_at least she isn't a blond."_ She sighed again; she was stuck with Stiles, and it was going to be a long, long talk.

* * *

**Author's note.**

Medical science is still uncertain about many things concerning menigiomas, I took some liberties and my explaining is based on the little they know of it that could fit the story. So, as this is a fairy tale, and as I'm a chemist, not a physician, I apologize in advance if something is so utterly wrong. And yet, one more clarification. I made up a second surgery for Jordan, a radiosurgery to be precise. That is performed either for malign meningiomas or to vanish a little one that couldn't be extracted by typical surgery. I would say, if she has gone through a major surgery before, why she couldn't go for a second, less risky, plenty of benefits and more advanced (as the scientists are picturing it). After the crash, everything could be a piece of cake, don't you think so?


	11. Purple Haze

_Hey there! Sorry for delay, but this counts as two chapters, ok? _

_Thanks Kat, I know this wasn't easy, so, thanks again. _

**_Hazmatt_**_, if you read this someday I want to tell you that you have just made my day! eighteen reviews (and counting) in one day, I feel honored. Thanks!_

* * *

Chapter 11. **Purple Haze.**

The lunch hour had come and there was no trace of Jordan. She had sent a little text message to Woody saying that she was going to be busy. It was very cryptical, and very Jordan-like. The pregnancy was taking it's toll on her, she was so moody these days. She would show up, eventually. Except that Woody couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about it. After all, he had crossed some boundaries that morning. He didn't know where that comment had come from, but he would apologize later. Some wonderful ideas were setting in his mind.

The new Deli place that had opened on the corner of the morgue was crowded, but Woody and Ann had managed to find a free spot. They had been chatting comfortably for a while as they ate. There were jokes and laughter, and anyone who would be watching them would have noticed that they were taking pleasure in each other's conversation.

"_So, you're going to get married, huh?"_ Ann forked a piece of lettuce.

Woody glanced at her as he was biting a sandwich. _"Mhm… as soon as Jordan is ready. There's something she still wants to figure out before we agree on a date."_ He struggled to answer with his mouth full of food.

Ann's beautiful green eyes turned introspective. _"It sounds a little… complicated."_

"_Oh! You don't even know!"_ Woody's eyes sparkled. _"Jordan is the queen of complications, but…I'm finally gonna get her." _

"_How long?"_ She wasn't really eating. The salad remained nearly the same as before, when she had taken it from the food counter. Ann was watching Woody carefully. Something was running in her mind.

Woody, on the other hand, was distracted; or he pretended to be unaware of being observed. His mind was split between where he was, and where Jordan would be_. "What do you mean?"_

"_How long have you been waiting for her?"_ She forked another piece of lettuce, and this time it did end up in her mouth.

"_Mmh that… I don't know."_ He was hungry, and he was eating enthusiastically.

"_You're kidding me. What do you mean you don't know?" _She giggled. She put an elbow on the table, and rested her chin on her hand, never taking her eyes off him.

"_If you mean how long I've known I wanted to be with her, that would be like six years ago."_ He paused.

He had recognized a pretty young woman that was at the other corner of the restaurant. She was sitting with some other people, and waving her hand at him. Woody grimaced. Unwillingly, he waved his hand in response. Ann followed the interaction, turning to see who he was greeting. Then she looked at Woody, he was gesturing with his hand – something like he couldn't phone her.

"_Sorry, that chick is a secretary from the Court. She keeps asking me to meet her. I really don't know how to turn her down. I even showed her the ring I brought Jordan, and you know what she said? That she didn't care."_ He rolled his eyes and bit another great piece of his sandwich.

Ann sipped some water from a bottle; her scrutinizing look was all over Woody. _"You were saying…" _

"_What? Ah, yes… A plane crash softens the hardest cover…"_ His reflection didn't make sense for Ann, but she was amused by his gestures. He truly enjoyed talking about his girlfriend. "_I knew I was gonna get Jordan like… er… this morning I guess._" He raised his eyebrows and shook his head, smiling. "_And that…"_ He emphasized hitting the table with his index finger, _"it's somehow uncertain until I kidnap her, and take her for a quick Vegas wedding. Not a bad idea, huh?"_ A mischievous grin had formed in his mouth.

"_You really love her." _She was introspective again.

"_Yeah…"_ He chomped the last piece of his sandwich and grabbed his bottle of water. He got lost a second. The image of Jordan, wherever she would be at the moment, was fixed in his mind. He could picture her inside of a chapel, with a beautiful white dress. The most wonderful smile was brightening her face. Would she be wearing a white dress in a chapel; where Elvis was marrying them? _"So, Ann. Your turn now. You aren't married, are you? I mean, there's no ring in…" _He finished the question pointing towards her hands.

"_No, I'm not."_ She turned to her salad again.

Woody sensed her mood change_. "Did I hit a nerve?"_

"_Woody, I really don't want to talk about that."_ Ann moved her face from observing her food, and looked him with sad eyes.

"_Is it that painful?"_ Woody was almost regretting his question. He considered it a good idea to ask her about her life, as he was spilling all the beans to her. He wasn't that open with people, not really.

"_I don't know, it's just that I'm at a point in my life I wouldn't have imagined I would be. I was married, I had a son. Now I have no husband, and no child."_ She was getting gloomy. The memory was striking her.

It was, in fact, a terrible idea. If he hadn't been so stupid, she wouldn't have remembered. Oh God! She had lost her husband and her son… It was his worst nightmare. Woody held his breath, and his eyes widened. He was shocked_. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"_

"_Oh no! You got me wrong, they're not dead."_ She lifted her hand to her temple as she saw the face of utter horror Woody had made. _"Sorry if I scared you…"_ She caressed his cheek softly with the end of her fingers. She was a little lost about the extreme reaction the idea had caused on him. Then she smiled sadly, her lips were gripping tight upon each other_. "We divorced, my kid stayed with him. He's six now. He stays with me two months a year, though. Vacations mostly. My ex is the one that really takes care of Billy." _

He knew it wasn't right, but he felt comforted. He let the breath he was holding out, he was relieved. _"Oh… Must have been very hard."_

"_I'm fine now… Healing... Billy is Ok. I can't take care of him because of my work. Chasing criminals from state to state, hired by a bunch of rich people. It isn't really a way to raise a child, you know? I think our deal was for his benefit. Quentin is a teacher, he knows more about kids than me, and he is steady, reliable. He has the time, the energy and the will… I'm a messed up psychiatrist, huh?"_ She frowned and patted his arm teasingly._ "How did you manage to get me to talk about it?"_

"_I wasn't really trying, you know?"_ Woody smiled widely, his beautiful dimples included.

"_No, you were sending the wrong signals…"_ There it was again, her introspective look was beginning to appear familiar to him.

"_You lost me, what are we talking about now?" This _woman was a brainteaser. Even his detective qualities weren't helping. He couldn't make out what was on her mind.

"_Does she know?"_ She squinted her eyes at him. That kind of made her look like a kitten – cute, soft and unbelievably attractive.

_Again, what?"_

"_Jordan… Does she know you love her?"_

_"Is that a trick question? Of course she knows. I would have married her after our first date. The problem is that we didn't ever date. We got along, had a good time eventually, but never hooked up. She had 'commitment issues'."_

_"Might explain some things…"_

_"You're doing that mambo jambo thing with my head, aren't you? I've got to tell you, I'm a very simple person, what you see it's what you get."_

"_You keep telling that to yourself, Woody… you know it isn't true. She doesn't know what to expect about you."_

"_I'm puzzled, Ann, trust me. I don't have a clue about what you're talking about."_

"_You're a snake charmer, Woody. You're sweet, you're smart and you're handsome. And you know how to use all of that to your advantage, don't you? When I first met you, you mislead me. I thought you offered me something more than a professional interaction. I was considering seriously on taking you up on your offer, even 'after' you introduced me to your girlfriend… Until I understood."_

He frowned and changed his stance to a very serious one. He was squeezing the bottle of water without even noticing it.

"_You want to know what?"_ She asked.

He nodded.

_"You really are a master of disguise, but there are some very specific things that trigger your real self… One of those is Jordan, and another is people suffering… Ah! And you like women… Your girlfriend… when we met… she didn't know if I could be trusted. It seems to me like you have given her some reasons not to trust you. You were putting too much effort in getting everybody's attention this morning. Or I should rather say, Jordan's and mine. I bet you kept doing that to her. I don't know if it is the way you are, or if it's some reminiscent effort to get you noticed. Are you trying to get her jealous?"_

He stood quiet, thinking. She may be clever and highly educated, but she knew nothing. _"Why are you telling me this?"_

_"Because I like you. I somehow can recognize myself in you… But I just grasped how wrong I was believing that I stood a chance over Jorda_n."

"_I would never cheat on her!" _Woody burst. _"Before… we were nothing but friends… and she didn't want us to become something more. I tried more, she always discouraged me… Of course I dated! I'm not made of stone. And she dated too. There was a time that I believed I had lost her forever… When I thought we were finally on the same page… many terrible things happened… she seemed to be content with us being friends. She told me she had no problem with my relationship with another woman. She was absolutely clear about that."_ He remembered the kiss Jordan gave to Lu. The memory, looking back in time, enraged him. He realized now that Jordan was pretending. She did have problems with him and Lu, and she didn't want to show her weakness. _"I like you Ann. I admire you and I certainly can't deny that you're hot. But I wouldn't cheat on her, because I love her. I love her that much that it hurts! She's having my child at her own life's risk, and I'm terrified!"_

Ann opened her eyes, amazed. _"That's why you freaked out when you thought my Billy… Oh Woody, it wasn't my intention."_

_"It's hard to talk about it, Ann. Jordan's pregnant and she wants the child. Well, I want my child too, but… it really endangers her life and I rather want to have her than … I can't even voice it out loud, for Christ sake!"_

"_Woody, let's start again, alright? I want to be your friend. Forget what I said."_ Ann was offering her hand for a shake to him. _"Friends?"_

* * *

The long session with Howie had left her drained. She didn't know how he always managed to get her to talk about all the stuff she preferred to keep buried. She didn't feel like staying at the morgue, or going home for that matter. She needed to think. It was Garret's fault for having set her up with the little wizard. She considered that she could take off the rest of the day without asking. She didn't want another confrontation with her beloved Dr. M.

Where could she go that she could be alone with herself? For some time alone.

What time was it, anyway? Jordan grabbed her cell phone from her pant's pocket. Almost lunch hour. A text message to Woody would do. Besides, he was too busy with the Byrne's case. He wouldn't mind. Not a pleasant thought to leave him alone with Barbie, though. She really needed to get over that stuff.

She kept walking, no place in mind until she arrived at her long forgotten childhood house. Why had she ended at that place? There were a lot of issues brought up in her talk with Stiles that were certainly related to this place. She stood watching the doorknob. She did still have a key, and she was carrying it in her purse. Why does anyone do things that are useless? Like carrying a key that is ancient history.

She let herself in.

Her bag was discarded on the table. Her big coat was left carelessly on a chair. Outside was freezing. Not so usual this time of the year, but hey! Who could understand weather?

She had walked a lot, now she realized it, and she was more hot than cold. Was it from all the walking, or was it the hormones? She grabbed a bottle of water from her purse and sipped from it.

She wet her lips with her tongue and looked around. All seemed the same like… when was the last time that she was in this place? When was it the last time she saw her dad?

The more you change, the more some things remain the same.

She left the bottle on the table and sighed.

For some strange reason, she wanted to go upstairs. Visit her old room. Look for something she didn't know what she was looking for…

She stepped up, one by one, counting each stair, like when she was a kid. There were fourteen steps. That was something reliable and that never changed. Nothing in her childhood was that reliable. And everything always kept changing.

Her mom, for example: She didn't know when her mom was going to be happy or sad. When she was going to be proud of her little girl, or when she was going to be angry with her… She didn't know if she was going to find her mom with someone that was not her dad: someone like Malden. She didn't remember Malden in her home, though. But there were others. They had appeared in her nightmares. If they were ghosts in her mind or if they were for real, she didn't know for sure. It was some kind of memory that had resurfaced during one of those infamous talks with Stiles. That had left her jumpy and lacking oxygen.

At the end of the stairway, she counted fourteen steps again. See? Steady.

She wasn't like her mom. It had almost taken her entire life to recognize it.

She had another kind of illness. Thinking again, it was just a bad joke. They both had brain illnesses, just two different kinds.

At the end of the corridor, hanging on the wall, there was a photo of herself as a child. She would have been about eight… before everything turned horrible. She was such a cute girl. Her long, dark hair left bouncing over her shoulders. A wonderful smile that showed no sign of what she would become two years later. Would it be all right to give birth a child in this cruel world? Unpredictable things could happen. Like the poor boy and his sister that were on the slabs this morning, for example. Their lives were disrupted.

She touched the base of her stomach. Her hand was open. No sign of anything yet, No rounding, no movement, nothing. Was it real?

She got to the bathroom; the door was ajar. The image of her mom in the bath with all that blood was coming to her mind. She shuddered. She looked at her own wrists and didn't find anything wrong.

She wasn't her mom. She wasn't insane. Well… not that kind of insane. She may be stubborn; she may be obsessed with death, wanting to get justice for everybody, speaking for the dead. She may be a little insecure sometimes. She may have stayed on the bench too long, watching everybody have fun, even Woody. But she wasn't insane. She wanted her life back. Maybe not the one that was already lost, but the one she could have with him, and with her child. Woody would be a wonderful father, he was a wonderful partner already. He would be her husband in no time. She glanced at her ring and it kind of answered her with a spark.

She finally arrived at her bedroom. She went to search for something in the dresser. The blue dress she remembered form her dream wasn't there. But somehow, she remembered it. It was real.

She collapsed on the bed. Oh God! Her MRIs showed no sign of any problems. The meningioma had shrunk since the last one. Beside the tiredness, she was feeling fine. Not even the morning sickness had hit her. She could do it; Woody would help her. This unplanned pregnancy should mean something. If she wasn't a cynic, she could say that God had plans for her. A promise of life.

She was exhausted. She hadn't eaten either; her stomach was complaining. Her feet were aching too. She needed to lie down for a moment, and recover. She knew what was going to happen when she closed her eyes, it happened really often these days. Fatigue would take over her, and she would be sleeping deeply and soundly in a second. She could rest and sleep for an hour. Get ready for coming home.

She reclined her head on the pillow and stared at the dresser for a while. Everything was turning purple. It was weird… like purple haze.

Out of the blue, she could see Malden, but he wasn't really him. He was Woody. And suddenly, her mom appeared. They were in the kitchen that was, in fact, the one in her own apartment. And her mother, wasn't really her mom, she was Ann, the brunette Barbie. She was herself, little Jordan from the picture in the corridor, watching them kissing, going to bed. It was excruciating. She grabbed a gun. It was the service pistol of her dad's. She shot her mom, but the inert body she was observing when she knelt down, was her own self, lying on the floor. She was all covered in blood. The strangest thing was that the blood was coming from inside her, from her uterus, her vagina, between her legs. Then, an awkward change in perspective occurred. She was standing with her legs apart, and at the time she could see the blood coming from her. She also could see a little fetus, with Woody's face, lying on the floor. His blue eyes open wide. Crystalline. Lifeless. She felt nauseas, and her stomach was hurting horribly. She wanted to run. She yelled but nobody could hear her, Bug and Lily just looked sadly at her. She was hyperventilating, but the air she was gasping was hot and it burned her lungs, it burned her heart, it burned her chest. All of a sudden, she felt nothing, but she could see herself, the grown up Jordan, lying on a slab at the morgue. Garret was opening her head with a chainsaw. And she shouted at him not to do it. He didn't hear her. "Wooody! Wooody!" She cried out loud. Her screaming was vanishing in the haze…

She began to feel trembling, but not her whole being, just her left leg.

Odd.

Then the Kinks ring tone she had for Woody could be heard out loud. She suddenly became aware of what was happening. She woke up startled. She lifted her hand to her chest, in an effort to slow down her heart. She really should stop doing this. It couldn't be good for her baby…

The ringing stopped. But as soon as her mind was getting focused enough to think to return the call, the cell rang again.

She grabbed the cell and answered, her voice grubby, dragging the words_. "Woody, what's up?"_

"_Jordan, where are you?! I've been looking for you for ages! Why weren't you answering the phone? I'm at the edge of a heart attack! Nobody heard anything from you! Not even Doctor M! I even got Nigel to track your signal!"_ She could hear some background clattering on his side, and saying something to Nige like he had found her. They sounded really noisy.

"_Whoa, whoa, Woody. Hold your horses! I'm fine. I just, er… fell asleep at my dad's place."_

"_What are you doing there, Jordan… Did… did you have a seizure? Is Max with you?"_ His voice screamed concern, was it really that late? She looked at the window. The sunlight was vanishing, almost dark. She had lost track of time indeed.

"_No Woody, please calm down. I'm fine. No seizure. And no sign of my dad and that would be for about four years by now. I just had something to do here. And… well, I fell asleep. I really didn't know what time it was. Sorry if I scared you."_

"_Alright… Don't move. I'll be there in no time. And hon… I love you. Don't do this to me again, Ok?"_

"_I love you too."_


	12. Fascination Street

_Warning.- some, very little, explicit thing. But it had to be done this way. Mostly, I couldn't resist it._

_Please, share with me your reading experience!_

* * *

Chapter 12. **Fascination Street**.

When Woody arrived at Max's place, Jordan was waiting for him sitting on the entrance stairs. It was freezing, but it seemed that she hadn't noticed it.

Woody parked the car in front of the house and when he got out, he ran toward her. Jordan stood up. The street lights illuminated her figure; a long shadow had formed at her back, on the floor and on the house wall.

"_Are you alright?"_ Woody inspected her carefully before he hugged her firmly. "_What is it, Jordan? You know you can tell me anything, right?"_

"_I'll tell you back home, Woody… don't worry. Just hold me a little tighter for a moment, Ok?" _Her voice was a whisper. She hid her face in his chest.

He did as she requested. They remained in that position for a long time, the hard embrace was comforting for both of them.

"_Better now?"_ He asked as he lifted her face kindly with his hand to look at him. He explored her and noticed that her eyes were red and swollen. She had been crying. He felt a knot in his throat.

She nodded, gripping her lips one upon the other.

"_Alright then, let's go home"_ He said as he placed a hand on the small of her back and lead her softly to the car. When they came along side the car, he kissed her temple. Then he opened the door for her. She climbed in silently.

Woody could sense the huge burden she was carrying in her soul. He looked at her through the car window, his own soul craving to lift some of her burden. He stepped to his side of the car, climbing in too, and pulled out of that place.

The car's confined space was overwhelming. The occasional light, coming from cars on the opposite lane, allowed him to recognize Jordan's sorrowful state of mind every time he glanced at her. She was still silent. She was fighting tears. Her weight of sadness couldn't be good for her, or for him…He felt the oppressive ambience and lowered his window, gasping for air… trying to breath.

He couldn't resist it anymore and pulled out of the road, parking on a side street. Jordan didn't notice it until they were perfectly still. Then she looked at him with questioning eyes.

"_Jordan, please, talk to me. What is it, honey?"_ He pleaded, and rested a hand over Jordan's hands that were on her lap.

She didn't answer. She couldn't take her eyes off their hands.

"_What did you have to do at Max's house, Jo?"_ He moved his hand from her lap and lifted her face to him.

She noticed the anguish on Woody's feature. If she voiced it out loud, as he was asking, everything would become real. Her nightmare. All that betraying, all that blood, all that insanity… all that death. She swallowed hard.

"_I was searching for a dress." _

Woody was stunned. It didn't make sense at all. _"A dress?"_ He put his hand on her hands again.

Jordan bended over to his side of the car, and rested her head on his shoulder. "_Yes… er… I had a dream. A dream about my mom. It was really nice and comforting. I recovered some good memories of her. But… I wanted it to be real, so… I went to search for the dress I was wearing in that dream… I didn't find it."_

Her skin felt soft and warm, and her head over him felt amazingly good. She was opening up to him at last. "_If that dress was in your dream, why were you expecting to find it Jo?"_

"_Because it was real! I remember it from my sixth birthday. I didn't make it up. I'm not out of my mind, Woody. I wanted to recover it, and I wanted it to remind me of the good things in my childhood. I wanted that girl back… I want to remember my mom as I saw her in that dream. Not sick, not promiscuous…"_

He was beginning to understand where she was coming from. He knew that feeling perfectly well. He as well, had shared the same need to have a good memory of his own mother. He was so young when she died, that he could hardly remember her. Not even her eyes were in his memory anymore. He sighed and kissed her head's top.

They sat wordless, in that position, for ages. They could hear cars passing by, some honks and even a couple of kids on their bikes. The street lights were forming strange shadows inside the car.

A lot of time to think about what was on their minds.

"_Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"_ He uttered softly, breaking the spell. It was really bothering him, as he had some ideas that Ann had put in his head.

Without any second thought, she answered. "_You were too busy with your case and with Ann… and I didn't want you to worry about me."_

There it was, what he had suspected before. _"Jo, I want to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth, Ok?"_

He was too serious for her liking. She raised her eyebrows, expectant.

"_Are you jealous of Ann?"_ There it was. He had said it. No more hiding, no more pretending. No more of whatever it was, that led him to seek refuge from another woman that was a little less complicated than her. He only wanted to be with Jordan.

"_Why would I be? She's nothing but a good-looking, hot, clever profiler_." She had wanted to make mock of it, but it had sounded plain lame.

Woody gripped her by her shoulders, and moved her, kindly but firmly, to face him. _"I love you."_ He uttered slowly, wanting for her to learn the meaning of these words. He emphasized it with a strong kiss. He was yearning to dissolve any doubt. He was only hers.

Jordan got lost in that kiss. He tasted like home. He tasted like strong emotions and the future. It was exciting, and at the same time, reassuring.

When they came apart, he explored her face_. "Do you understand? I love you."_

The tears she was holding back, found their way out freely. _"I know… I don't know what's happening to me…"_

He hugged her again. _"It's alright. We'll be alright."_ He kissed her forehead and cherished her proximity, smelling her hair through his embrace. It was like heaven.

Suddenly, a light dazzled them. Woody squinted his eyes to get a view through that light.

"_Show me your license sir."_ A police officer was standing outside his window illuminating them with a torch.

"_Why officer, we're not doing anything."_ He answered annoyed, as Jordan and he were innocently embracing each other. Any other forbidden street activity wasn't being performed. They weren't a pair of teens, they were a pair of grown up people. Why wasn't this rookie noticing that? It seemed as if he hadn't even gotten out of school. This stupid kid had disrupted the magic.

Woody flashed his badge at the uniformed policeman. His voice came out authoritative. _"We're on surveillance, and you're putting our work at risk, officer. Please move." _

"_Sorry… detective, I wasn't informed…"_ The young cop apologized and stepped out. He was scratching his neck with his hand as he left, thinking how embarrassed he was to interfere with the stake out.

When the rookie was out of their sight, Jordan laughed. Her stance had changed completely. _"Well, detective…"_ She whispered in his ear, _" Does surveillance include this?"_ She seized his thigh, moving her hand dangerously close to another part of his body, that he was already feeling aroused.

"_Stop it, Jordan."_ He stumbled with his words.

She wasn't about to give up yet. "_What? Don't say that you never did it in a car, huh?"_ She was already gripping him.

He chocked. The air seemed not to get its way to his lungs. His heart was beating faster and faster. His hand was squeezing the car wheel. _" Plea…Please, Jo… Jordan, we're not fif… fifteen."_

She was having so much fun. But just to tease him a little more, she changed her hands abruptly from its target. She lifted them to his head and held him firmly. Her eyes had a wicked glint. _"Sorry, you were asking for it."_ She laughed again, releasing him.

He captured her, holding her body against him and kissed her hungrily. Long and wet. At the end, Jordan couldn't open her eyes. She didn't remember where she was, or what she was doing there.

"_Revenge!"_ He said amused.

She sighed and kissed his lips again, this time, sweet and softly. At the end, she said, watching him earnestly. "_Remember you once told me that deep down, we know what we want. Not what we say we want, but what we really want?"_

"_Not my favorite memory, but I remember."_ He shook his head. Then he straightened on his seat, getting his look fade away on the horizon. Flashes of city lights were brightening his feature.

"_Why?"_ She was puzzled. "_Didn't you like it? I mean… I thought you enjoyed the ghost and the weird room. But mostly when we got snowed in on the second day…"_

He turned to see Jordan, on the passenger seat of the car. His face showed some anxiety. The memory wasn't really warming his soul. _"Of course I enjoyed it! And I meant what I said back then. I loved you already… but you were with the Aussie… sorry… J.D… I thought you were going to break it off with him, and when we came back you didn't… I thought that you didn't want to leave him."_

She was reflecting on his words. They were echoing in her mind. _"That's where the "rebound guy" thing came from, huh?"_

He pretended to be distracted, inspecting the car wheel. His hand was messing his hair and he didn't even notice it. "_Well, you know? You didn't seem too eager to leave him. And you didn't tell me that you wanted to be with me either, so…"_

"_You didn't tell me anything either… and why would I…?"_ She frowned. She wanted to understand.

He turned to look her again, and spat out "_I offered you a ring, Jordan. Remember? Even if it was a friendship ring you knew what it meant."_

"_I don't know, Woody. We should start talking about all that stuff some day. You certainly had a funny way of saying that you loved me. Throwing me out of your hospital room? Not speaking to me for months? Cheating on me to get what you wanted?"_

"_Jordan, I… I was very confused… I felt as if life didn't mean anything. You didn't love me… I was going to die just the same stupid way my dad did, by a punk…I was furious… Could you ever forgive me?"_ He caressed her head with his hand. He wanted to make all the sorrow he had caused disappear. But how could he? It was history now. They had to focus on the future, and they certainly had to start getting all that out from their hearts. Start to speak. Trust each other.

She suddenly changed her bearing, getting excited. "_Woody, how much money do you have?"_

"_What? Why?"_ He had no clue about what was in her mind.

"_How much?" _She repeated animatedly.

He dug for his wallet in his pant's pocket, and when he extracted it, he counted "_Er… two hundred bucks"_

"_Not enough, credit card? Forget it, I got mine…what time is it?"_

He didn't question her anymore. He grabbed his cell from his waist and found out. "_Ten past nine."_

"_We could do it. Do you have anything important to do tomorrow? I mean, besides the Byrne's case and all that stuff?"_

"_We're still expecting DNA results for that, but they wouldn't be ready for tomorrow. For next week maybe. Nigel will find out about the source of that mail… I had a meeting with O'Brian's team this afternoon, well, mostly with Ann."_

"_So, nothing urgent, right?"_

He gave her a 'look'_. _She was acting in a strange way. _"Mmmh… What are you planning, Jordan?"_

"_Let's go to the airport, Woody… we need to grab a flight to Las Vegas."_

"_What?"_

"_You want to marry me, don't you?"_

"_Well, that's kind of what I meant with the ring I gave you."_

"_I know what I want. And I want it now… Alright, let's get married… tomorrow. We can fly tonight. Tomorrow morning, very early, we get the license and marry there. We can catch the flight back to Boston by noon, and you can meet your lovely profiler by seven, I mean, if it is still that urgent." _Her eyes were gleaming. They flashed like a car's headlight.

"_What about Garret? And your cases?__ What about the flight? Vegas is five hours from here, I don't think …"_ The sole idea of flying was disturbing, let alone the fact that it was an impetuous, and very sudden decision. But he had shared this very thought that morning… they were definitely synchronizing their minds.

"_Don't worry about the morgue. I can handle it. About the flight…you can get drunk, I can watch you get drunk and hold you tight… anyway, I bet the minute I hit the pillo__w on the plane seat, I'll get sleepy."_

"_So, you're kidnapping me, huh?"_

"_That's right… So, what do you say?"_

"_Did you happen to have a white dress in your bag?" _He threw her a mischievous glance.

She came nearer him and with a naughty and provocative demeanor, murmured against his lips. _"Nope, but I got white underwear… will it do?_

He grabbed her again between his arms, holding her firmly against his chest. He kissed her. He didn't seem to get enough of it. "_Ok, let's do it."_


	13. Just Say Yes

_Hey there!_

_I'm glad to come back. Sorry if this was a long cliffie but I needed to clear my mind, and some things got in the middle, and... forget it, I just hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 13. **Just say yes**.

Jordan and Woody arrived at Boston Airport at about nine thirty; just to find out that there was no flight to Las Vegas until five AM, the next day. And it was a seven and a half hour flight. The shortest one they could get. Coming back from Vegas was less enchanting. If they wanted to be back by the same day, they would need to book a flight by one PM, and an arrival to Boston by ten in the evening. More than fifteen hours in the air in the same day!

Beside, they would need to plan a very fit quick wedding, narrowed down to two hours window of time.

But they were determined to do it.

"_What do we do, Jo?"_ Woody was messing with his chin as he looked at the flight chart in front of him.

"_We need an internet connection.__ We need to__ plan __a __wedding__, __a chapel __ready at __eleven thirty. Buy the tickets__,__ and get our errands finished as best as we can__,__ before we grab the morning flight. I may __even__ get a white dress… if that's what you want_." She beamed as she was watching him.

Woody turned to see her. She had the most disturbing greenish tone to her skin, and her face was showing the exhaustion she had felt. She seemed as if she was going to faint at any minute. _"Are you feeling alright?"_ He said concerned as he grabbed her by the shoulders.

She was feeling dizzy. In front of her, there were two Woodys, not one. She held her head with her hand as she was fighting to get focused. _"It's nothing, Woody. Just haven't eaten anything yet."_

He stared at her. He was angry, she was his most precious treasure, and she was going to get herself killed before he could have her. _"I swear it Jo…"_ He couldn't finish.

She had regained her composure and was silencing him already with a kiss. _"Let's get something to eat. OK?" _She enveloped him with an enchanting glance, and the most beautiful smile was brightening her face.

It reminded him of the vision he had of her before, in the chapel, with Elvis and all that jazz… _"Alright."_ How did she manage to turn his anger to bliss, he didn't know, but it was happening more and more often these days.

They came into a restaurant in the airport. They ordered their meals and waited for them. After the eventful day they had had, this was an oasis of peace. Woody gazed at Jordan. She was spreading some butter on a piece of bread, and proceeded to eat it hungrily. He needed to take care of this precious jewel, but the hardest part was that she had allowed him to do so. He thought that he was succeeding, at last. The ring he had given her sparkled at the time. Like a premonition. He had never felt this secure in his entire life. Their mating dance was finally got to an end. And they had started another dance already. An enterprise of life that was scary in so many ways.

Jordan sensed his reflective mind, and claimed. _"A penny for your thoughts."_

He made a funny face. He wasn't about to confess that to her yet. _"I want you to wear the white dress, Jo, and… maybe we can get Elvis to marry us."_

Jordan frowned as he was uttering the last part. _"I can grant you with the dress arrangement, but no way Elvis is marrying us, understood? This is surreal enough to__ let__ our delusional decision become a rock and roll nightmare."_

He laughed. _"I love you."_ He said between laughs, as he came near her face and kissed her nose. _"No Elvis, I promise."_

Their meal was arriving at that moment. Jordan grabbed her tuna salad hastily. As she was eating, she glanced at Woody. An idea was coming to life in her mind, he could tell.

"_What?"_ He asked intrigued.

"_We should call Danny and Delinda. They could help us__ out when we get to__ Vegas_."

"_I don't know, Jo. Every time we__ have__ met with them, there__ has__ always been a murder. Remember last time? When they came to Martha's Vineyard and the box show ended up__ with__ a couple of deaths? And we don't know if they're together right now, as they were on-and-off just like… Ummh, they were bound to implode, didn't Nigel say that? And beside that, I don't really want your former boyfriend__ at__ our wedding…"_ Woody's real concern wasn't going to be voiced out loud. What he didn't really want was to meet Sam Marquez at the Montecito. One of his latter acquisitions on female territory that had ended up in a haze of confusion. It was before he and Jordan were on good speaking terms. It surely was in the back corner of his most embarrassing memories.

She stared at him as she grabbed her cell phone. _"We all have pasts, Woody, and he wasn't my boyfriend… Are you jealous? Stud-a-licious detective?"_ She was in such a teasing mood that it amazed her. She was feeling highly excited. That hectic day was finally getting to her.

Jordan had already dialled the dreaded number, shushing Woody with her index finger over her mouth, and narrowing her eyes. _"Danny?"_

Woody was gesturing in front of her, shaking his head and throbbing his hand in frenzy no-demand. Jordan placated him waving her hand up and down. _"Hey, how're you doing?"_ She continued on the phone. "_Goood! And Delinda?"_ She made a face of utter surprise and almost yelled. _"What? A baby? Wow!"_ Her eyes sparkled at Woody, putting two fingers on the speaker she informed him, almost whispering. _"They had a baby. That hardly counts as an imploding relationship. Huh?"_

'A baby?!' He thought; too much of a coincidence. Damn for their on-and-off relationships, and their contribution to a population that was exploding.

"_A girl? Fantastic!"_ She was so focused on what Danny was telling her, that she didn't notice Woody's gestures anymore. _"She almost lost the girl, but she's fine now."_ She was again informing him, with the speaker off, and the whisper thing. _"Oh, right… I'm calling you for a favour… Mhm, you see? Woody and I want to get married…"_ She made a face of annoyance and continued. _"Yes I know… we're not 'just' friends anymore, Ok?"_ She rolled her eyes, and a grin fulfilled her features. "_Aha, we booked__ ourselves__ on the first flight to Vegas tomorrow morning… arriving there about ten thirty… Yes I know, that's kind of why we need some help… Yes the wedding needs to be done between that hour__,__ and before the one PM flight back to Boston. Woody's in the middle of one very difficult case, high profile and everything, so, we need to be back__ in__ Boston as soon as possible"_ she rolled her eyes again and laughed. _"No time for __a __honey moon, but we eventually…" _She went on for a long time. Woody just adopted a waiting-for-her-to-finish position, both his elbows on the table, and his head resting on his hands.

* * *

Very early in the morning, there were people coming and going in the morgue corridor. The chilly weather hadn't disappeared, and the morgue calefaction wasn't working. Everybody was trying to warm up, rubbing their hands; and wearing big coats, scarves and gloves.

Seely rushed from the morgue elevator to catch up with Dr. Switzer. She was making her way to trace.

"_Hey! Dr. Switzer."_ he called out. Kate made a sudden stop to see who was yelling at her. The young cop almost bumped into her, but managed to avoid it.

"_Ah, It's you"_ She said coldly, and continued walking.

Seely kept on step along her side. _"Doctor. I need the autopsy results from the Wells' family, the car crash expert is waiting for them."_

"_What? Dr. Macy hasn't given them to you? I don't know about Jordan's and Bug's, mine was__ on__ his desk yesterday afternoon."_ At that moment, Nigel was coming from trace, and joined them at the corridor.

Everybody stopped.

"_Ummh, Dr. Cavanaugh's was on my desk when I arrived this morning_," said Seely as he acknowledged Nigel with a nod. _"I had just collected Bug's from his desk. Dr. Macy hasn't given anything to me yet… I think he's too busy with Ms. Walcott right now. Could you take that report from his desk, please?"_ He asked to Kate.

"_And why do you want them anyway? Aren't you a homicide detective? Or __are __you now handl__ing__ traffic casualties."_ She said bitterly.

"_Somebody put an electric device on the gas tank of Wells' car. It caused the explosion. Now __it __is __a__ homicide."_ Seely deadpanned.

"_I'll get it"_ Nigel offered. Kate stared at him and nodded, walking again as if nothing had happened. Nigel rushed to get the report from the said desk and handed it to Seely. _"There__,__ you have it."_ And stomped in again, in seek of the blond ME; leaving a stunned cop in the middle of the hallway.

Nigel made a storming entrance to trace, calling Kate frantically. She glared at him. _"I'm right here. Stop yelling."_ She demanded, irritated.

"_Do you know where Jordan is now?"_

"_Why? Should I? I'm not a baby sitter, against __what __some of you might think of me..."_

"_Oh, I just guessed that, as you were on the car crash autopsy with her yesterday morning…"_

"_Yes, and you have just heard from '__Dennis the menace' __there__,__ that her report about that autopsy was on his desk. Not on Dr. Macy's, not on mine, so…" _

"_It's really odd, you know? I got a mail from Woody saying that if I found something about the mail from Byrne's case, I sent him a text message and he would be calling me back tonight, and… here is where the situation turns__ stranger__… that we don't have to worry about Jordan. You see? Yesterday he was like __he was__ about to jump from the eleventh floor, and now they seem to have vanished together… Mmmh that leaves you thinking, my dear."_

Kate observed him as if he was out of his mind, judging that she really had more important things to do than questioning the absence of a pair of lovers.

* * *

Woody was way too drunk to understand what they were talking about. As Jordan had promised him, she had put drink after drink into his mouth until he passed out on the plane seat. She had fallen into a difficult sleep after that, cursing for the first time, not being able to get drunk as well. They managed to get out of the plane, with a little help from a male aircraft assistant. Woody couldn't maintain an upright position. He couldn't get himself walking without help either. The minute Danny and Delinda, with their beautiful daughter, saw them at the airport, Danny took his turn, taking one of Woody's arms behind his back. Then he all but carried him to the Montecito's. Sam noticed the turmoil they were creating as they stepped into the hotel, and she came to investigate what was going on. Woody couldn't help but wave his hand at her, and at the time, he blurred out _"I'm getting married_" turning to point out to Jordan. She smiled mordantly, and showed the ring to Sam.

Meanwhile Danny struggled with Woody, the women went to a room to get Jordan ready for the ceremony. Delinda had a beautiful white dress for her. It wasn't a wedding dress but it fitted Jordan making her look refined, elegant, and gorgeous. When they came out of the dressing room, it only took one look from her to Woody to know why she was so hopelessly in love. She was truly enjoying the leap. It was a mystery how Danny had managed to get the groom changed and looking strikingly handsome. Mostly, it had been that the drinking effect was wearing out.

They all climbed into a limousine. The hurricane they were forming since the hotel followed them to the chapel.

They heard the wedding speech, and when it came Woody's turn on the vows, Jordan jabbed his ribs with an elbow murmuring in his ear. _"Just say yes."_

Woody looked at her in a funny way, he obviously knew what he was going to say, but he found it amusing that she was the one throwing him that line, and not the other way around. In his mind everything was running in slow motion, partly because of the residual alcohol in his blood, but mostly because everything he had hoped for was happening too fast. It was unbelievable, as if he was high, though he didn't remember exactly what it felt like –last time with the sweaters was accidental, and certainly not as pleasant. He thought that a nice-high-trip would be like getting married to Jordan. "_Yes, I do."_

The ceremony hadn't ended yet, but he was feeling so blissful that he started to drag his words. In an effort, he managed to say something like: _"Jordan, you're the most stubborn, difficult and annoying woman I dared to put my eyes on, but in this very instant I'm the happiest man on earth."_ She silenced him with a kiss. She was getting used to it.

There were pictures, and rice, and hugs. There were kisses too, and champagne, but neither of the married couple drank a drop of it.

Their storm proceeded to follow them right to the airport.

On the way back home, Woody rested his head over Jordan's lap, in a way that could have only hurt him, but in his state, it was just a weird way to bend his body. An arm was around his bride's front in a protective gesture. His dreams visited colourful places where a little girl was playing and she waved her hand at him. She reminded him of the woman he was behind -his Jordan, beautiful and dark haired, but she also had the eyes the colour of deep sea.

Jordan's fright of flying was diminishing as she patted Woody's head over and over again. His arm around her body, and exhaustion, did their work, and she finally fell asleep. Her dreams were idyllic; she was envisioning a place, with green grass as she hadn't seen a green before, where Woody and a little girl were playing. They were waving their hands at her. That picture warmed its way to her soul… for the next seven hours on the plane.


	14. Snow in Summer

_Happy birthday Kat! Even if I'm late greeting..._

_Thanks for reading my story. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 14. **Snow in Summer**.

"Woodrow, I found something very important in the mail about the Byrne's case, call ASAP." Nigel's text message arrived to his cell phone as soon as they, Jordan and he, were climbing into the car, ready to leave the airport. "_Mmmh, I have to call Nigel."_ He was hoping that nothing would show up, that he could have that night free to stay with Jordan at home. After all, they wouldn't have their honeymoon anytime soon. He dialled reluctantly, the criminologist.

Jordan, on the other hand, was dead beaten. Fifteen hour split into two frightening plane trips, a hasty wedding, and pregnancy weren't the best elements to combine.

Woody lifted a hand to his temple and massaged it with his fingers. _"I'm sorry, Jo. I have to go meet Nigel and O'Brien's team. Nigel found out where the messages were coming from and who sent them. It seems that this felony comes from __an __inside __leak, from __O'Brien's people. His geek expert is involved…" _

"_That's alright, Woody, I can go check what happened with my cases, apologize to Garret, and wait for you to finish in my office."_

"_Oh, no hon, I'll drive you home. You're way too tired to do anything. Besides, if you want a round with Garret, you're gonna need to wait until tomorrow, he must have left by now…"_

"_Don't argue with me, Ok? Haven't you learned anything yet? When did I skip the opportunity to get a nap on my couch? Come on, let's go."_

Woody knew he didn't stand a chance over Jordan's resolution, so he just pulled out of the parking lot and drove them to the morgue. The building was very quiet when they arrived there. Everybody had left and only the night shift was there. The malfunction on the building's central heating hadn't been fixed yet and they found that their clothes weren't too appropriate for that. Woody took his jacket off, and put it around Jordan's shoulders, under her protest. If she didn't want to go rest properly, she wouldn't dare die of cold on him. Her dress was beautiful, but it was light and didn't really warm her body.

On their way up in the elevator, he embraced her, both their bodies feeling the warmth from their near contact, but mostly for what they had accomplished. They had just gotten married. The fact was sinking in on both their hearts.

When the elevator's doors opened, many eyes witnessed their entrance to the morgue. Garret had stayed. He was now following Byrne's case closely, as some details of O'Brien's hidden life were leaking to the press, and the media was starting to get interested. Kate was also there, reluctantly. She had to phone her landlord and she had asked her to feed Binky. With the state of affairs it seemed that she was going to be trapped there for a long time. Nigel was standing next to her, his face paler than usual. Ann and two other guys from O'Brien's office, the same ones that visited the crime scene, were there too. As well as D.A. Walcott. It was, in fact, a very crowded meeting. The minute the couple stepped out of the elevator, some of the people gathered there proceeded to move into the conference room. But for some of them, the way Jordan and Woody were arriving wasn't left unnoticed. Nigel's stance changed abruptly, he was examining his friends down to the last detail. First of all, Jordan didn't need to be there, as she wasn't involved in the case. In second place, they were wearing the wrong clothing. There was also a glint that was coming out from their eyes that was so uncharacteristic; in contrast with their obvious extreme physical fatigue. He finally found something that made him almost yell. He stopped himself from doing it, lifting a hand to his mouth and choking.

"_That! What is that?!"_ His efforts at not being so noisy weren't succeeding. He was pointing at his friend's hand, an object that wasn't in Jordan's hand yesterday was now gleaming there nicely.

Jordan couldn't stop a yawn from escaping from her as she answered. _"A wedding ring, Nige." _

"_Abso-bloody-lutely fantastic! I certainly didn't think I__'d see __the day!"_ Nigel placed both his hands to his heart and stepped behind his friends. Then he took Jordan's hand, the one with the ring on, and admired it. _"Smashing! But… how did this happen? You have to tell me everything…"_ He turned to see Woody, and as he was asking to kiss the bride, a smiling Garret was hugging the just-married-detective. The Chief ME was displaying his emotions in a way he wasn't used to. This event had taken every one of them by surprise, but it was a very good surprise. Even Kate's disgusted expression had turned into a grinning face. A stunned Renee came out of the conference room as she found out what was going on. The always professional D.A. approached them and congratulated Jordan and Woody; her posture had been replaced with a touched and kind stance. Ann was watching the scene from the door of the conference room, very quiet and serious. She considered that perhaps it was a family time, and she shouldn't be there at the moment, so, she waited for them to finish.

"_So, you finally did it…"_ Garret was gripping Jordan by the shoulders, "_I should be mad, you know..."_ he turned to see Woody then, _"I should be mad with both of you…"_ and then he laughed and held Jordan in a strong and loving embrace. _"But I'm very happy for you… we'll talk about it later, Ok?"_ He released her and tapped Woody's back with too much force on an outburst of joy, taking him into his arms again at the end.

"_I'm very happy for you t__w__o, but we have work left to do. Let's finish our business here and then you can go and celebrate."_ Renee's words brought all of them back to reality. Everybody but the married couple went into the conference room.

"_I'll be waiting in my office, Woody."_ Jordan kissed her husband in an unusual exhibition of love. Woody lingered on the kiss, wanting for it to last forever. Jordan didn't want it to end either, she was relishing every sensation and she was thinking about how many things she had been missing out on. But not anymore…

* * *

"_So, this guy, Harrison, faked the mail, he always had control of the sources, he even sent the first one from a computer inside the Councillor's office. He manipulated time and date, changing the clock internal settings, in order to have an alibi. He was always there, __in__ sight of the entire team at the same time the messages were __being __sent. He is the murderer's accessory."_ Nigel finished his explaining.

Ann stood up from her seat and grabbed a laser pointer. One of the guys that was with her from O'Brien's office turned the light off and the other guy turned on a projector. A projection screen had been set up in a corner of the room. An image of one of the emails that had been examined was displayed on the screen. Everybody's attention turned to the image.

Ann's professional voice could be heard clearly. _"With this new evidence, the mail contents are now making sense. Before we knew that our systems expert was involved, we were distracted with some specific words used in sentences in a way I interpreted as __tools to confuse the __mind and signals of delusion... I consulted Dr. Grant,"_ She cocked her head to Kate. _"You may know him, he's one of the most recognized linguistics' forensic experts" _Kate nodded in recognition. Ann continued. _"You may see these words __i__n these sentences..."_ She was high lighting the words on the screen. _"dark' and 'carry on'… they just didn't make sense in the context of the paragraphs. But, as some of our co-workers have enlightened us, these words were characteristically used by Mr. Harrison, mainly in context of stressed situations. Moreover, there are some words constantly misspelled in two messages, but correct in the other two, 'meself' instead of_ _'myself'. There are also, some textual patterns and functions of syntactic units in some portions of the texts that our expert ascribed to one person, and other portions to other completely different one. So, I have assumed that there are portions of the messages that Mr. Harrison either wrote or changed. Whatever would be the case, it tells us that he is emotionally involved with the murderer. He had an ulterior intention by his intervention on the messages… Two important things arise from this analysis. The first one is that Harrison, being a submissive, very shy person, in constant need of recognition, as he is, he is now in a desperate situation. He's one of those guys that never __had any__ female attention, and it's very feasible that our suspect is an attractive, outstanding woman, just the kind that was always off of limits for him. He would do anything to keep her with him. The second one is that the murderer is not interested in killing the baby, on the_ _contrary, as your girlfriend… sorry,"_ Ann tilted her head to Woody and shook her head as she remembered the recent event, and emphasised the next _word "'wife', suggested, the murderer was emotionally attached to her victim, very strongly in fact, and she perceives the baby as a continuation of Susan, but a pure one. She wants to keep Cynthia with her and even probably raise her as her own daughter. The question is… and here is where this matter turns very dangerous, that Mr. Harrison wants to keep her attention only __on__ himself __and he might be thinking now that the baby is an obstacle to what he wants… he wants this woman. He's becoming edgy and he has already committed a crime, the next step isn't too far from there. And Cynthia's condition would __make__ things easier for him. Any wrong medicine or the lack of it would end up __with__ the baby's death."_

The lights in the room were switched on, and the images disappeared.

"_So, you're saying that our murderer woman was emotionally involved with Susan__,__ and with this Harrison guy at the same time? She was Susan's lover and induced him to help_ _her to commit the crime?"_ Woody asked shivering. He rubbed his arms with his hands, trying to warm up his body. _"What the hell happened with the heating system?"_ He muttered under his breath, in an inaudible voice.

Ann was sitting again, as she shot back. _"I think our suspect led Harrison to believe she cared about him, but she's only manipulating him to get what she wants. The one she truly loved was Susan, in a twisted way… and when Harrison understands it he's gonna be very upset. He thinks this woman loves him… and she doesn't. One of two things may happen. Maybe both. Either she kills him or he kills the baby."_

"_Do we have any lead__s as to __who this woman might be?"_ Renee shot Woody a stern look.

"_We still haven't established that, but Dr. Switzer was able to extract some DNA from saliva and we are just expecting results."_ He responded.

"_They'll be ready in a day or two, but no thanks to our CSU unit. It was pretty difficult to reconstruct but I __gave them__ a hand with the sample."_ Kate added.

"_We have enough evidence to n__ail Harrison, Hoyt. The warrant__ will__ be ready any minute __now__."_ Renee clenched her fist over the table. Woody got on his feet.

"_There's only one problem."_ Ann interrupted. _"Harrison disappeared… He didn't show up at the office today, and at the time __that __we knew __about __his participation__ in__ the crime, the councillor sent for him at his apartment. He was gone."_

"_We still have to search his place. Something could tell us where he went." _Woody pointed out.

"_Nigel, Kate, we need to look for evidences there too, before it gets contaminated."_ Garret growled. Then, he glanced at Woody, sympathetically. _"Sorry this happened today, but we don't have any time to waste."_ The three members of the morgue were already on their way to do their jobs.

Ann approached the young detective. She had changed her professional stance to one that was more friendly. She touched his shoulder gently with her hand_. "Woody, I want to congratulate you… when you said you were leaving to __go to__ Vegas to marry Jordan I didn't think it was literally the way you had it planned, and certainly not this soon… I'm very glad you finally got her."_ She kissed his cheek.

He shot her a wide smile and a sparking glance as he answered. _"You ought to believe me that I intended to kidnap her but it was actually her who did it, and for that I have to thank you. You were something like a catalys__t__. Thank you." _He took her on a brief embrace. _"Now, if you excuse me, there's something I still have to do."_ He rushed for the door and disappeared.

* * *

Woody melted at the sight of his wife, curled up on the couch, sleeping. Her arms were around her stomach in protective gesture. He sighed and messed his unravelled hair. He was going to find that baby, alive. Woody knelt down beside her. _"Jordan"_ he called her softly, caressing her cheek.

She didn't wake up. _"Jordan, honey"_ he repeated, planting a kind kiss on her cheek now.

She popped an eye open, but couldn't hold it and closed it again. "_I'm sorry, Jo. I have __a__ job to do. Let me take you home, honey." _

This time she popped her both eyes mid-open, grasping that something was going on but not fully comprehending it. _"What?"_

"_I have to get evidences from the geek's place, Jo, he ran away, and Susan's baby is in danger. I'll drive you home first. I'm sorry… I really wanted this night to be something else…"_

Jordan moved to sit on the couch while she was desperately trying to wake up completely. Then she lifted a hand to the back of her head and sighed. _"Don't worry, Woods… It'll be fine. I'm dead beaten. I wouldn't be __any __fun tonight anyway. Just… take me home, Ok?" _

She stood up and snuggled on his chest. The unbearable cold he had been feeling the entire night vanished at the warm sensation of her body in his arms. It was like snow in summer.


	15. Stop Dead

_Hello, hello!_

_Here it is my new delivery. _

_First thing, I have to say that none of my characteres are from real life, any resemblence is pure coincidence. I made up all the names. _

_Second thing, if you are enjoying my story, you can tell me. I would appreciate it big time._

_Here I am, isolated with my family in my home, expecting news from the outside world, literally. Please tell me that I'm not alone._

* * *

Chapter 15. **Stop Dead**.

Emmy knocked the door of Jordan's office _"Dr. C. there is an old lady asking for someone that could give her__ some__ indication about what happened with the Wells family. You're the only one right now that __was__ on those autopsies. She's waiting at the conference room. What do I tell her?"_

"_Isn't Lily aware of this case?"_ Jordan asked, distracted, keeping her eyes on the screen computer.

"_She's not__ here. Maddie has the flu…"_ Emmy answered, files in her arms and worried about time, she glanced back and forth from the ME to the corridor.

Jordan stood up from her chair and headed toward the hallway. _"I__'ll__ handle it, Emmy. Thanks."_

Jordan found a woman sitting on a chair; her head resting on her hand, her sight drew to the table. She was defeated; her white skin looked almost transparent. She was about seventy, but her recently brown-dyed hair and her well taken care of figure made her seem to be younger. That image disappeared when she lifted her eyes to see who was coming into the room. Jordan observed dark, disturbing circles under those eyes. Now she seemed to be like ninety. Her heart broke a little, sensing the huge burden this woman carried. _"I'm Dr. Cavanaugh, how can I help you?"_

The old woman got on her feet, slowly and with difficulty, she moved to stand in front of her, and offered a hand in greeting. Jordan took her hand with both her hands softly.

"_Thank you doctor… I don't know what I expect from this visit… I'm Margaret Wells… my son and my grandchildren died in a car crash and… and they were brought here three days ago."_

"_Take a seat, please"_ Jordan tapped her shoulder kindly, and took her own seat right next to her.

"_Mmmh…"_ Jordan was reflecting how to manage the situation. She had blamed the deaths on this woman's son, and she had been pretty mad. But she didn't want to cause this old lady to feel more sadness. After all, it was her son, and her grand children who have died_. "I performed the autopsy of your grandson, Mrs Wells. __Two other__ doctors were on the autopsies of your son and your granddaughter. I know this is extremely hard for you, but I can't tell you anything that can make you feel better… We found high levels of alcohol in your son's blood. And __another two people were involved __in the crash that also died…"_

"_Yes, I know that, doctor, but I know he wasn't that drunk__,__ and I'm sure he wasn't the one who caused the explosion. I went to the police… a young detective over there told me that they were investigating the explosion, but as they had a demand on my son for the other two people who have died, he couldn't disclose any information right now."_ Mrs. Wells seemed to be on the verge of tears, but her eyes were dry after all the crying she had been doing.

Jordan couldn't look at her without freaking out. She swallowed hard and tried to explain. _"See, Mrs. Wells, they discovered an electric device in the tank gas of your son's car… it caused the explosion. But it exploded 'after' your son crashed his car over __the __other two cars in front of him." _

The old woman shot an enraged glare at her. There were still strong emotions running in her heart. Mrs. Wells must have been a very tough person to endure the loss and the repercussions of it without collapsing. _"I know what you all think of my Jeff, but he was a good man. He cared about his children and about his wife, although she didn't deserve his kindness…" _Mrs. Wells regained her composure. After a brief pause, she let a deep, questioning look came into Jordan's concerned eyes. _"Do you have children, doctor?"_

Jordan was taken aback by Mrs. Wells' question. It had hit a nerve. Her nervousness was becoming obvious. She blinked and turned to see to the table, in an effort to hide herself from the ominous acceptance of her weakness. _"Not yet…"_

"_So, you can't understand… Jeff and his children were my world. The only family I had. Jeff had never drunk at all in his life… uh… but Darcy… his wife…"_ Mrs. Wells shook her head. Her immense distress had returned. She seemed even more tired than before. _"I can't believe that she had the guts to do what she did to her family… Darcy left two weeks ago... She has a lover, a new man. And she left her family. Jeff couldn't stand it and he got drunk for two days… I know he was to be blamed for many things that happened in his marriage. Darcy and he had had problems for a couple of years. He didn't want her to leave him, but she finally got away. Jeff took immediate full custody of his children… that was the first thing he did after Darcy left. __Darcy's new man__… threatened him. He would stop him if he didn't __stop what he was doing. __I know it__,__ because I was there when this man called my son at their house. Jeff answered that he didn't care and hang up. Two days after that, he's dead… My entire family is dead."_

"_Didn't you tell all this to the police?"_ Jordan was seeing the car crash episode through a new, completely different light. Sympathetic feelings for Mrs. Wells cause were arising in her.

"_They didn't care about an old woman mourning an irresponsible and drunken killer. They left me waiting on a chair for three hours…"_ Mrs. Wells answered sullenly.

"_Damn Seely"_ Jordan muttered with anger, turning her face the other way around struggling to cover her expression. Then, she returned her attention to the woman. _"Mrs. Wells, I'm afraid you'll have to go back to the station and give your statement. But don't worry, this time they're gonna listen __to __you right away, I'll make sure of it."_

* * *

"_Hoyt!"_ Seely yelled. The bullpen was crowded. Woody was striding determinedly toward his office. Seely ran to catch up with him.

At the time he heard his name called out, Woody turned to see what was going on, walking nonetheless.

"_What is it?"_ he answered, when he noticed the effort the other cop was making to catch up with him, and he stopped.

"_Damn it, Woody_…" Matt breathed heavily. "_Didn't you hear I was calling you?"_ He pulled alongside the taller man.

"_Yes, Matt. But I don't have time for small talk, you know. There's a__ killer out there that wants to__ raise __a baby that doesn't belong to her… and it appears we got a new body."_

"_Man, I see you're way too busy_," there was sarcasm in Seely's voice, _"but I just wanted to make myself clear with two things, Ok?" _

Woody was confused, what would Seely want make clear to him? Although he was really busy with his case, his curiosity impelled him to ask the other man against his own will. _"Spill it, Matt."_

"_First thing, congratulations… I just knew that Cavanaugh finally jumped on your bones. I'm really happy that you finally conquered the troublemaking, freaky woman you always wanted,"_ Woody made a face of utter disgust and was about to answer Matt's inappropriate comment when the other detective made a stop sign with his hand. _"which led me to the second thing, buddy… Please put a leash on your wild beast… It's your job now, man."_

"_Look, I don't know the least thing about what you're talking about, and you know what? I don't give a damn_." Woody's intention to continue his way was brought to a halt as Seely gripped his shoulder strongly with his hand.

Woody was exasperated, the pressure he had been through for the last few days, exhaustion and this unnerving man were taking their toll on him. _"What Matt, What do you want?"_

"_Seriously, man, your wife's interfering __with __police actions__ has__ to stop. I can't do my job if she's at her conspiracy theories and threaten__s to cut__ every one of us __up __in pieces, scalpel in hand, if we don't do what she wants."_

"_That's just crap!_" Woody stood, with a defiant glare at the other cop.

"_I'm just warning you, Hoyt, I won't let her control my case! She's your problem, not mine."_ Seely shouted back.

"_You know what? If you can't handle a ME you don't dare make it my responsibility. What Jordan and I are at home is way to__o different__ from__ what we are at work. Leave me alone and do what you have to do. I'm sure Jordan didn't threaten you without a reason. Even if I don't like it, she's prone to be always right."_ The incident was about to get out of control, Woody was furious, and so was Seely. They went from a normal voice level to draw everybody's attention. Between their yelling, it could have been heard a pin drop.

Woody shook his shoulder in an effort to get free from Seely's grip, the other man released him and turned to walk furiously the other way – toward the corridor. Woody went into his office and slammed the door shut. The normal noise in the bullpen was restored.

Inside his office, Woody paced like a caged lion until he took his phone and made a call. He struggled to sound calm. _"Hi… yes… uh, I don't know… Jordan, stop. Please listen to me. Did you threaten to cut up Seely in pieces with a scalpel in hand?"_

"_Shit!"_ He muttered under his breath and taking the phone away from his mouth. Then, he put it again over his mouth. _"Oh, honey… yes I know he's a jerk… Mhm… Well, don't worry… yes… see you later… I love you too."_ He hung up.

Woody tossed his fist to his brow in frustration; his wrist hit his forehead and then he collapsed on a chair.

* * *

They had received a call from a hotel that was outside Boston City, on the way to Sutton. It wasn't really their jurisdiction but the desk manager had identified a picture that had placed Harrison there. The hotel manager had complaints from one of their guests. A baby was crying. A woman and a man were fighting loudly. The noise finally had stopped with something that had sounded like gun shots, and the further quietness had been disturbing. The desk manager had gone to investigate what had been going on. He had been badly surprised to find a man lying on the room floor in a pool of blood, dead. The same one whose picture had just came in the mail with a police warning. The body hadn't turned cold when the police arrived, but there was no trace of the woman or the baby. However, the hotel employee gave details to a specialist artist in order to make a visual portrait of the woman, and Nigel put the picture into a data base. The hotel employee wasn't sure about many things on the woman's picture, he hadn't seen her that well, but it was better than nothing.

Along with the CSU people, Kate and Nigel swept the place gathering evidence, wishing that the woman had left something behind, after her hasty retreat. They succeeded; they found one of Cynthia's medicines, and hopefully, fingerprints on its bottle.

Woody had been interrogating every one of the guests in the hotel, and as it had fifty rooms, and was full, the task he was enduring was monumental. After two hours of work he found a witness. She was a young woman -Carrie Heinz, who had seen "a family" arriving in a Chrysler van that parked just along side her car. It would have been pretty normal to Carrie -a baby, a father and a mother; if the woman had not flirted with her, in front of Carrie's partner and in the very face of her husband, in a way she had found terribly uncomfortable. The witness' girlfriend wasn't in the hotel at that moment, with her, because they had a lovers quarrel after that. Carrie was pretty upset because that woman, the mother of the baby, had performed as if she had known her from a long time ago, and now that she had discovered Carrie at that place, she had wanted to reconsider their previous relationship.

The only problem was that Carrie didn't know her at all. She was now sure, after the whole day thinking in that affair, alone in her room, that the woman had just wanted to piss off her husband. It was coming obvious to the witness, because of the way the man had been staring and nervously pacing pretending that he wasn't watching their encounter, and as the way the woman had been glancing amused to him, from time to time.

Woody showed the portrait to the young woman, and Carrie could recognize some of the woman's features. She could be her, and because the witness wasn't sure, they made another drawing with Carrie's direction and compared both drawings. Nigel put the new picture into the data base.

They came back to Boston with all the evidence, and the body.

The case was at a braking point. Two bodies; a missing, ill baby; a public figure that was about to stein his image with the events that threatened to find their way out to the public light; and a new development that neither of them was prepared to confront.

They say that reality exceeds fiction, and that, they were just about to find out.


	16. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep

Chapter 16. **If Only Tonight We Could Sleep**.

Jordan was at her office. She had gone through a difficult night, and it seemed that morning sickness was more a generic name than a fact. You could have night sickness too. Being a doctor hadn't been prepared her for that kind of stuff. She was exhausted. Dr. Seymour, her obstetrician, had warned her this morning about over working and stressful situations. It wasn't healthy for either her, or the baby. And she really should have known better, if she really wanted not to endanger her pregnancy.

She was reflecting at the moment, on how strange it was that Woody wasn't watching her like a hawk.

In fact, he had been pretty collaborative. He had stayed all night with her in the bathroom, not saying a single word about the infinite danger she was in now, with both the meningioma and the pregnancy. He had been sweet and supportive all the time. What she didn't know was that Woody had to bite his tongue more than once, and had to pull himself together more than twice. He was finding it pretty hard to let Jordan come to a decision, but seeing her throwing up and looking pale and sick the entire night, was making it harder.

But if he had learned something through years of suffering with Jordan's personality, it was that no matter how convinced he was that Jordan's choices were wrong, and taken from emotional places, interfering just made things worse, and it could all go into a downward spiral so easily. And, in a way, he was beginning to feel that the parenthood thing was a real possibility, diffused and strained, but real nonetheless. Above it all, he had made a vow. He had promised Lily, but mostly he had promised himself, that he would be tough and reliable. He wouldn't run anymore from his demons. He was discovering how frightening it could be to endure them.

The night had gone as well as it could have gone.

Jordan's time of making her mind up was coming to an end. She was almost two months pregnant, any further than that would be terribly jeopardizing.

Talking about taking things easy, there it was – Seely, at her office door.

"_Hey Cavanaugh! …You look like crap… By the way, is it still Cavanaugh, or do I have to call you 'Mrs. Hoyt?... or 'Hoyt?'_ " He was resting his shoulder on the door's frame.

Jordan's face was pale and gaunt. She did look like she shouldn't have come to work. _"Thanks Matt, I do appreciate tough love… Cavanaugh's fine."_ Her disdainful tone didn't make Seely back off.

"_I should really know better than this, but… anyway, I'm here to break the __news __to you. You were the one that put us on the track of the Wells' killer, so…" _

"_About that…Ummh, I know the scalpel __thing __was so out of line… No hard feelings, Ok?"_

"_Not at all, but the next time you choose to have a child, don't dare work__ on__ one of my cases. Hormones and your crazy traits don't get along."_

She was stunned. _"How did you know I was pregnant?"_

"_Oh, I didn't for sure until now."_ He seemed very proud of his deductive skills. _"I mean, you're a loose canon, Cavanaugh, but after the 'lake episode' and the 'scalpel-menace' I just thought it was too much, even for you. And besides that, you married Hoyt, after all these years he's been after you… Why now? __Adding to it… well, you're looking like my cousin Vera, she has been pregnant four times and she always looks like crap. See?" _

Before she would lose her temper again, she asked the incredibly annoying man in front of her. _"And you are here because…"_

"_Because I'm on my way to arrest Darcy Wells and her boyfriend, Harry DeSoto. We confirmed their participation in the murder of the Wells. DeSoto was the one that fixed the Wells' car. He cut the car brakes and put the electric device __in the car__, __as per __his lover's request. I have a much acquainted witness that confirmed old Mrs. Wells' testimony. This Darcy Wells is wors__e __than a __traitorous__ Golum. Planning to kill her own children… "_

"_I didn't know you were into Lord of the Rings' analogies, and even though I find it very interesting, I'm lost, you could have told me __over the__ phone. So, again, you're here because…" _

"_I wouldn't risk myself again on you, Cavanaugh. I know the minute you would have known this, you would have been at our backs, compromising the catch. So, I rather prefer you with me. It's safer that way… So, are you ready?" _

Jordan grabbed her cell phone from the desk and stood up. _"Ready."_

Jordan and Seely walked out toward the elevator.

The elevator doors opened. Ann the-sexy-profiler and Woody stepped out of it. He was surprised to discover that his wife and the 'charming' detective were, as it seemed, in good speaking terms again.

"_Hey beautiful!"_ He kissed Jordan briefly in the lips. "_Where are you going?"_

Seely had entered the elevator and was pushing the hold button, waiting for the ME to come in. Meanwhile, Jordan had made a short head addressing to Ann. The profiler just answered with a _"Hi."_

"_We are on our way to apprehend the Wells' murderers, Woody."_ Jordan answered matter-of-factly, expecting that his reaction wouldn't be way out of proportions. After all, she was going to be just a witness_. "I mean, Matt is the one that is actually gonna seize them, you know that"._

Woody held his breath for a second, and as he released it, he clenched his jaw, making an extraordinary effort to hold on his anger. _"Jordan, do you really think it's wise to do 'police fieldwork' after last night?"_

Matt's exasperated voice interrupted them _"Are you coming or what?"_

Woody shot a nasty look at him, and Jordan took advantage of the situation. She caressed Woody's cheek with her fingers and said. _"Don't worry Woody, I'll be fine."_ She rushed for the elevator and the doors closed before Woody could do anything about it.

He stood in that position for a moment, until Ann touched his shoulder gently with her hand. _"Woody, Dr. Switzer is waiting for us…"_

Woody came out of his trance and shook his head, looking to the ground. Then he lifted his face to the woman and forced a smile. _"Yes, you're right."_

They walked to trace, where Kate was expecting them. They found her sitting at a desk, watching a screen computer.

When the blond coroner noticed they were coming into the room, she beckoned them to approach, with a hand movement. _"I've just received the DNA results from the glass of Susan's crime scene. Look." _She showed them a graphic that to somebody unacquainted didn't mean anything.

Woody threw an exasperated look at her as he asked. _"And?"_

Kate answered indifferent, _"Bad day or something?"_ without even bothering to look at him, and continued. _"The DNA didn't match anything in the database, I ran it against everything we had. It's not Susan's, if that makes you feel better."_ She was typing something on the keyboard, and the image of the screen vanished.

"_So, are we again at square one?"_ He growled, frustrated.

Then, the computer beeped and suddenly, on the screen, appeared a new graphic_. "I wouldn't say that…"_ Kate uttered, distracted with the results.

"_What's that?"_ Ann questioned her, signaling with her index finger under the words 'partial match' that were displayed on the screen.

"_That means that the sample doesn't belong to this person, but __it __is related."_ Kate was opening a new archive and extracting information from it.

"_Related as in 'family related'?"_ Woody asked now.

"_Mhm… see. This sample over here is the one we took to prove __the __Councilor's paternity,"_ Kate was pointing toward one set of lines that were marked red in the graphic. _"This one is from one fecal sample from the baby."_ She signaled toward another set of lines, this time in blue, _"and this one is the sample from the glass."_ She finally ended with a set of lines in green. Then, she drew their attention to a portion of the graphic. _"The overlapping over there, tell__s__ us that the three samples are family related."_

At that precise instant, Nigel was coming into the room.

"_Did you find anything from the fingerprint?"_ Kate was referring to the fingerprint they had discovered on Cynthia's bottle of medicine, left at the hotel.

Nigel shook his head, defeated. He wasn't really used to being at a loss after a single fingerprint, but no database had, up until this moment, come up with any matches. He sighed. _"The bloody fingerprint is another phantom one. And the bullet you took out from Harrison didn't show __up as being from a registered__ gun owner either. It's not __a__ registered gun__,__ and it's not related to any other felony. And the picture… well, I'm still running it against the whole car-license register. Nothing yet."_

"_A picture? I haven't seen it…"_ Ann replied.

Kate interrupted, her tone was demanding, _"Run the fingerprint against O'Brien's family… daughter, sister, nieces…" _

"_Bloody hell! Are we talking about a Greek tragedy here?"_ Nigel rushed to his computer and fiercely typed on the keyboard. Woody hurried to his side, watching keenly what the files were showing.

After a few, excruciating minutes passed, between different comparing pictures, the computer beeped.

"_A match!"_ Nigel screamed.

"_This is going to hell in a handcart… It's O'Brien's daughter."_ Woody said.

"_Cla__ire? Are you sure?"_ Ann asked astonished.

Nigel turned his screen computer for her to look at the file, as an unfailing evidence of what they had discovered. There was a fingerprint on it, a car license with the photo of a woman that had similarities with the visual portrait, and below both pictures, a caption that said: Claire O'Brien.

* * *

Jordan and Seely arrived to a residential apartment's building. Two more police's cars were parked on the street.

There were a couple of police officers with the detective and the feisty coroner striding determinedly toward an apartment. Seely stepped behind the door and yelled, _"Police!"_ before the two cops with him forced the entrance and went into the apartment, pistols in hands, followed closely by the detective. Jordan stood, obediently, outside the place until Seely screamed_, "Clear! You can come in now, Cavanaugh."_

What she saw inside one of the rooms was a middle aged woman, sitting on a chair, behind a dressing table. The back of the woman was at them. Her face was showed through the reflection of a mirror on the wall. The woman had the most transfigured face she had ever seen. Her whole body was languished. Her skin was tarnished and pale; her eyes seemed to be lifeless, although it was perfectly clear that she was very alive.

"_No__ sign of the boyfriend"_ Seely pointed out, glancing earnestly at Jordan. She approached the woman, cautiously, but the woman did nothing in response.

The suspect just stood sitting there, a torrid way of tears pouring down her face was the only sign of life she was showing. Seely was watching narrowly the scene, expectant, with his gun ready in his hand. But the woman didn't represent any threat to anyone. She was motionless.

"_Are you Darcy Wells"_ Jordan asked the reflection on the mirror. The woman closed her eyes in response.

"_Darcy Wells, you're under arrest for the homicide of your husband and your children."_ Seely asserted.

Darcy finally spoke before the detective could tell her rights_. "I didn't mean to kill them!"_ Her voice was haunted. She turned to look up to Jordan, moving from her spot, sliding a little.

"_Your boyfriend cut the brakes and put an explosive initiator in your husband's car__, Mrs. Wells, and it was done per your request, we have a witness."_ Jordan shot back, forcing herself to speak softly.

"_This is a nightmare."_ Darcy uttered, moving her head down to her chest. "_It was only meant to threaten Jeff, to force him to give me my children. I didn't mean to kill him, much least my children… They were my world."_

"_I don't understand, Mrs. Wells, did you think that they would come out of the 'accident' kicking soundly?"_ Jordan asked.

"_They didn't have to be in that car… the car didn't have to explode… I just wanted to scare Jeff."_

Now it was Seely's turn to ask. It was working out as a confession, putting them behind bars would be easy after this. _"So, it was a warning that __went__ way out of control? It's that what you're saying, Mrs. Wells? Or was it your boyfriend's idea to kill them?" _

"_I don't know… I don't even know where he is now… I don't understand what went wrong."_

"_You know, Mrs. Wells, you'll have plenty of time to figure it out at jail."_ Jordan ended.

Suddenly, Darcy's features turned defiant, and she screamed. _"I can't go to jail!"_ She turned to face the dressing table quickly and took something out of the back drawer.

Jordan saw everything as if it was running in slow motion. Seely's howl could be heard very clear.

"_Gun!" _

He threw himself down to block Jordan's body from the shooter, acting as a shield, and pulling her away from the feasible risk.

As he was coming to the ground, he lifted his gun aiming to the woman, but before he could finish his intent, a gun fire blasted.

There was blood projected everywhere.

Jordan screamed in terror, and then she went out of breath collapsing on the floor, her back tossed against the wall.

She was a mute witness of the desperate, ultimate act of a woman that had nothing else to lose, nothing to fight for, nothing at all.

Darcy Wells had just blown her own brains out.

When Seely understood what just had happened, he rushed to Jordan's side asking nervously _"Are you Ok?"_

Jordan didn't react, she was traumatized. Seely knelt down on the floor next to her and tried to make her respond, but he became alarmed as he realized that Jordan's pants were turning red and a thin trail of blood on the ground was encircling her_. "Call an ambulance! Now!"_ He hollered the police behind them. He took Jordan's body into his arms and carried her to the bed.


	17. Jupiter Crash

Chapter 17. **Jupiter Crash.**

Woody had flown with the warrant to take Claire O'Brien into custody, but as he had supposed, the murderer had left her apartment a long time ago.

The O'Brien's had given birth to two children, a girl and a boy. His son had died at the age of four, from a congenital heart condition, so Claire was their only daughter now. She was twenty five, and her parents had spoiled her giving her all that she wanted, no questioning, and no work in retribution. She had grown up believing that she deserved everything, and that she could take anything that she desired without even asking. She had started medical studies, but never finished them. For the moment, she lived off her parent's money and performing as an 'escort-companion' in high sphere society. She had no friends, but the rare people acquainted with her life-style, referred to her as a 'slut', literally. She could either get along with men or women, as long as they paid 'good' money. She was young and beautiful, she was a high society heir, and her mother's family had ancient Bostonian roots and lots of money. Her father was a councilor, one of the most important politicians from that side of the States. It was because of all this, that she was pretty high valued.

Since she was at the college, O'Brien's daughter hadn't lived with her parents, and now that she was a grown up woman, she hardly visited her child home anymore. That was probably the reason her parents didn't know much of her life.

The press had finally cracked into the information about Susan Byrne's murder. Hell it broke loose after that. Someone inside O'Brien's team had been leaking it gradually, but by the time they had discovered who murdered Susan, the entire story had already been seen on the news.

The news programs had been breaking the notice the whole afternoon. O'Brien's wife had learned it from TV. Her daughter's picture was shown, as well as Susan's, her husband's and the baby's photos.

The thing that it was a lesbian's crime of passion was filling up the papers, also adding the fact that it involved the hidden love life of a public figure – Councilor O'Brien, one of the most prominent people into politician's domains, and his bisexual, murderer daughter had exceeded the media exposure from the last time. Previously, he had announced there was bribery from inside the City Council.

Nonetheless, one fact was, without any shadow of doubt, the only one that mattered at this point. Claire O'Brien was gone. She had disappeared along with the baby. The baby was her sister, and at the same time, her lover's daughter.

The entire police force had been geared up to catch Claire. The only thing that was left to do now was wait for a wrong move from Claire – a credit card transaction or a witness, or anything that could lead them to where she was.

Inside the City Court, at Walcott's office, Ann and Woody were witnessing a battle of wills being wrestled between DA Walcott and Councilor O'Brien. They were discussing passionately, the order of apprehension that the DA had set up for Claire O'Brien.

_"Councilor, all the evidence we have… and I have to add we have plenty of it… point to your daughter Claire as the murderer of Susan Byrne and Harrison. I'm going to charge her for first degree murder and kidnapping_." Renee declared. Her posture showed a fierce determination. She wasn't a bit intimidated by the Councilor.

Woody faced O'Brien as well, _"It's her DNA we found on the glass from Byrne's murder scene. She has Cynthia; we have a witness that can testify it. We also have her fingerprints on the bottle of the baby's medicine we found at the Harrison's murder scene. At least two people saw them together just before the crime…"_

The councilor was fuming. He paced and consulted his attorney. There was a regiment of lawyers working, (the office was fully packed) trying to diminish the charges.

_"All that you have is circumstantial. Assumptions. You don't have any hard evidence that can convict my daughter… The only thing you've established is that Claire has her sister. That's not a crime, and I won't bring any accusation against her for it."_ O'Brian retorted.

Woody glared at him. He was beginning to understand Claire's erratic behavior. His father had done a hell of a job covering for all her mistakes, he satisfied all her whims. He had created a monster. It was unbelievable that he was putting his baby in danger just to get her out of trouble.

_"Councilor, we'll prove you're daughter's liability for the crimes, without any single doubt, sir. I've granted an order of apprehension for her."_ DA Walcott replied firmly.

"_I need Dr. Weir with your people, Ms. Walcott. It's the only way I would let it happen. I have to be sure that Claire will be treated properly until it i__s time for her trial." _There were daggers coming out from O'Brien's eyes. Renee endured his attack with her own metal shell. It seemed that the more he soared in his anger, the more she grew in her strength.

There were arguments, there was yelling, and there were ringing phones constantly. Mrs. O'Brien arrived with her own retinue of lawyers. There were more arguments, more yelling, and more ringing phones.

Woody's cell rang as well, and he stared at the screen. The thick-skinned lizard of a detective was calling. He knew that Jordan was with him, so he felt uneasy when he saw that the call was from him. He left the office to answer it.

Renee's secretary cast a flirting glance at him as he came out of the office. Woody forced a smile that resembled more of a grimace, and rushed for the corridor in an effort to escape from all the insanity.

_"What's up, Matt?_" he could finally answer the call. It had to be very important because it had cost him a good two minutes to answer it, and yet the phone had kept on furiously. Ann had escaped from the office as well, and she was observing the cop as he was on the phone.

His face had been transfigured with an expression of utter horror. _"What?! What hospital?"_

_"What is it, Woody?"_ She asked, alarmed, but the only answer she received was a whisper.

"_Jordan._" Woody was already running up the corridor and all she could do was observe his elusive figure disappear down the emergency stairs.

* * *

Woody ran frantically through the hallway that led to the emergency room of Brigham's Hospital. Seely was waiting for him.

_"Woody!"_ Matt called out.

_"What's wrong with Jordan?_" He demanded.

Seely was watching him with worry in his eyes. Despite his worry he reassured him, "_Calm down, man. She's in good hands… She was bleeding… signs of an abortion. But we managed to get here on time. She should be fine by now, and you need to take it easy because her doctor wants to talk to you. Ok?"_

Woody was hyperventilating. He bent forward, and put an arm around his stomach trying to catch his breath. _"Ok… Ok."_ He said between labored breaths.

A few moments later, when his lungs were functioning better, he managed to ask. _"What doctor? Where..?"_

_"Here he comes…_" Matt pointed out at a middle aged man, in scrubs, that was approaching them. Woody closed the distance with two long strides.

_"Mr. Hoyt?"_ The doctor asked him.

_"Yes, doctor. How is Jordan?"_ Woody stumbled with words.

_"Calm down, Mr. Hoyt, your wife didn't miscarry. She had vaginal bleeding when she arrived here, but her cervix was closed. We performed an ultrasound and everything seems to be normal again. She reacted to a severe emotional shock. I think that witnessing a suicide must qualify as a stressful situation."_

Woody turned to see the other cop, with a questioning and stunned stare. Seely just shrugged, folded his arms around his chest, and dropped his look to the ground. Then Woody focused on the doctor's explanation again.

_"She needs to be calme_d", the doctor carried on. "_and is strictly forbidden from moving from her bed, for about thirty six hours. I need to watch her until I am absolutely sure that it is ok for her to go home –her pregnancy is high risk at the moment. I've had a talk with Dr. Sanchez and Dr. Seymour, and they agree with me. Dr. Seymour asked me to be sure that she stops working now. She has already warned your wife about stressful environments. I have to ask you the same thing, Mr. Hoyt. I may be repetitive, but she has to rest. I also asked for an MRI and sent it to Dr. Sanchez. He said everything is normal, so, you don't have to worry about the meningioma – it has no sign of enlargement; and had nothing to do with this event. But, again, she needs to rest – no work, and no emotional stress. She's not allowed to leave your home for at least the next couple of months, and after that, we'll determine if she will continue at a high risk pregnancy level."_

Woody was processing all the information as best as he could. There were so many things to think about for this pregnancy to go to full term, that it would be easier to give up than to fight for it. He was very anxious, Jordan had never been that blown away by an endangering circumstance. She was made of stone and her nerves were as strong as steel. Why had she been so shocked this time? He needed to see her. He needed to be sure that she was fine, beside her medical condition.

As the doctor finished, Woody found out his name from his I.D. that was hanging from a cord around his neck, and he claimed. _"Can I see her now, Dr… Aldrich?"_ His apprehension permeated through his words.

_"Yes, she has been asking for you. Just remember that she needs to be calmed, Mr. Hoyt, and that includes you, relax yourself before you go in there with her. She has been moved to room 302."_ The doctor finished, he patted Woody's back in a reassuring gesture, and left to continue his work.

A few moments after that, Seely filled Woody in with Darcy's suicide. How Jordan had started to bleed, and how she had pulled a promise out from him. She didn't want to miscarry. She wanted Woody to be aware of it. It had been very strange, as if she was thinking that he didn't want the baby.

Woody was reflecting on it, on his way to see Jordan. She had made up her mind, at last. It had been the dreaded answer. The one he didn't want to hear. There were times in one's life that, even though one's believing wasn't much into astrology, there was no other way to explain things. Planets must have had aligned, and there had to be a Jupiter crash.

He found himself in front of room 302. He gathered all the strength he could muster, turned the door handle, and opened the door. He popped his head inside; inspecting what was in there with a peek. His heart was racing. He didn't know if it still was from the running, or from the imminent twist their lives were about to take. Jordan was lying on the bed, she was quiet. All kinds of machines and tubes were connected to her. It was too reminiscent of his own hospital stay, that it shocked him. He let himself in, and came near his wife.

Jordan became aware of his presence, _"Woody_", she murmured.

_"I'm right here._" He said softly as he approached her. "_Quite a scare you gave me._" He took her hand. _"But, don't worry, Jo, the doctor said everything is alright now."_

He sat on a chair, beside her side, never taking his hands off of her hand.

There were some instants of quietness. Jordan seemed a bit tense. Woody caressed her hand trying to diminish her apprehension.

That gesture pumped Jordan's courage _"Look Woody, I know everything's gonna be alright. And I also know why… I want this baby…" _she was laying all her heart into what she needed to say to him. _"You know? At the time Darcy was about to pull the trigger, and I thought I was in danger, there was an image that flashed to my mind, just that, an image… you see, when we were returning from Vegas, I had a beautiful dream. It wasn't about anything in particular, but about two people... It was about you and a baby girl… our daughter… The instant Darcy took the gun out, I didn't fear for my life, but for our baby's life… I realized how much I wanted this. I know it's a good thing for us…"_

Hearing it from her, it sounded almost possible, like it wasn't such a bad idea after all. _"Jordan, there's no need… I knew that whatever you would chose, it would be a good choice. I'm sure this baby's a blessing."_ He took her hand to his mouth and kissed her lovingly.

_"Am I dead? Are you agreeing me this easily?"_ She teased him. Her lips curled forming a grin. Her anxiety had finally disappeared.

He gave her an amused look. Then, he leaned over her to kiss her mouth. "_You know you'll have to be chained to this bed for the next day and a half, don't you? And that you'll have to be resting at home for, at least, the next couple of months… Are you aware of that?"_

Jordan blinked, but she didn't hide from Woody this time. She smiled. _"I know… and I warn you, it might be a bit challenging here. I may be a pain in the ass…"_

He laughed. "_Tell me something I don't know. It'll be my pleasure to serve my ass on a platter for you."_ He twirled a lock of her hair around her ear as his laugh trailed off.

After that, they explored each other features for a moment. Even though Jordan's face was gaunt and pale, she was happy. Woody noticed a glint that he didn't recognize from before. If Jupiter had crashed, they were left to build a brand new planet from its remains. That glint was a promise, and he knew it.

_"I love you"_ came out from them both as one, and both faces glowed.


	18. To Wish Impossible Things

This chapter is dedicated to:

Mario Benedetti, he lives in our hearts.

And to my lovely Amélie, she is very alive.

You always need to wish for impossible things.

* * *

Chapter 18**. To wish impossible things.**

_"Grandma?_" Jordan had just woken up. She was stunned to see the unmistakable figure of her grandma standing right beside her hospital bed. Was she hallucinating? Last thing she remembered was Woody's big frame sleeping uncomfortably on the couch in her room. She had dowsed off watching him. She glanced at the said couch, her mouth agape, and found no sign of her husband.

"_Hello Jordan."_ Her grandma's solemnity was characteristic. There was no doubt she was there, in flesh and bone.

"_What brings you here, grandma?"_ Her raspy voice could tell anyone that she was in a smoggy state of mind. Jordan didn't intend to be rude, but it seemed that old habits died hard. She incorporated placing an elbow on the bed and holding the weight of her body with her forearm. Her grandma noticed the effort she was going through and pulled the pillow, arranging it into a more comfortable position.

"_Better now?"_ the old lady asked. Jordan nodded as she let herself get comfortable in this new setting. Her grandma continued.

"_Your husband told me last night you were here, and that you're pregnant. I didn't know you were married, though. Isn't he the young cop you were protecting from the Montgomery's?" _

Jordan felt a punch in her stomach. Why did her grandma have to be so irritating? _"I wasn't protecting anybody, grandma. Cynthia Montgomery dug her own grave, and I wasn't going to let someone innocent get mud from her whims… He's the detective that was dragged to that infamous incident, if that's what you're asking." _

"_Well, I guess I judged him wrong. Although I didn't think a police officer was right for my daughter, I was wrong then, and I have to learn from my mistakes. He's a good man, Jordan. He asked me to come here."_

"_What? But… why?"_ It wasn't making any sense to her. Woody didn't even know her grandma. She wasn't in her life anymore. Jordan frowned and searched, with a quick peek, any sign of Woody's presence. She would give him a piece of her mind.

"_I don't know Jordan. Because I'm your grandmother?"_ the elderly woman answered sarcastically.

Jordan struggled to control her temper; her grandma's traits didn't always have the effect to infuriate her. There was a time when she enjoyed being with her. She remembered when she was little; they were good friends back then. _"Ok, grandma, save me from this uncomfortable exchange and tell me why you are here."_

"_I brought you this."_ Jordan's grandma dug out something from a bag she was carrying. It was a girl's dress, the very same blue dress from her dream. Jordan was surprised. Her heart started to beat faster. _"I don't know why this is so important, but your husband seemed very interested in it. I gave you this dress for your birthday, do you remember, Jordan?"_

"_And why is… that you have it? I've been looking for it…"_ Jordan was captivated with the fabric. She had grabbed the dress from her grandma's hands, and was patting it, like it was alive. It wasn't a dream after all.

"_Emily gave it back to me, when it didn't fit you anymore. She said it was too much for her life-style. If you ask me, I don't know what she meant by that… But I kept it."_ The old lady was observing her granddaughter with a tingle of nostalgia. She was again that little girl that used to be the joy of her Victorian, ancient house. Why is that everything had to change that much?

"_Look, Jordan. I __haven't given up on you__. Y__our mother and you, I mean. __You know that__. I've been watching you keenly, my dear. There were times I thought I would need to use some of my old friendships to get you out of trouble, but it didn't happen. Even when you crashed at the White Mountains, you came back miraculously. I'm really glad you did… And that you have married."_ She rolled her eyes "_Even though I __wasn't informed __when it happened."_

"_It's not__ as if__ we announced it at prime time, grandma. To tell you the truth, it was a_ _getaway for a tacky Vegas wedding a week ago."_ Even if she didn't mean to exasperate her grandma, Jordan had always loved to snap at her quirks. She wasn't anything like her grandma wanted her to be, and that was it. She didn't have any voice to 'approve' her marriage and her husband. The same one who, by the way, had been intolerably sweet and annoying for calling her grandma and asking her for the dress.

"_And you're already pregnant_?" Her grandma sulked.

"_Well, yeah."_ Now was Jordan's turn to roll her eyes.

Neither of the two women had ever realized how much they were alike. Too proud and determined, they were stubborn and righteous. Great wills in a battle that had lasted Jordan's entire adult life, and she became adult the day she saw her mother's dead body on the floor of her house, when she was ten.

"_Look, Jordan. I love you, I'm glad that you've finally married a good man, and that you've started your own family, dear, it was about time. I know your mother would've been very happy for you too."_

"_Do you think so?"_ It was the little girl within her, the one that had lacked maternal love that was speaking now.

"_You doubt it? Well of course. She loved you Jordan."_ They were quiet for a moment. Her grandma caressed Jordan's cheek with her fingers, in a gesture she wasn't used to. However, she was seeing that little girl now, the same one to whom that dress had meant to belong to.

"_I must confess that I had my portion of guilt for what she became, dear. I spoiled her immensely. She was whimsical. I gave her everything because she was everything to me… She thought life was one way, and it wasn't. She __couldn't__ stand its reality, its crudeness. It was a rough realization for her. Emily lived in a world of fantasies, and she didn't know how to deal with it. She fell in love with 'prince charm__ing__', and there is __no__ such thing, my dear. She had her own and peculiar way to escape from that. She __may__ have been sick, but make no mistake, Jordan. She loved you"_

'And what about James?' was a thought she didn't voice out loud. She had her beloved dress in her hands. Maybe some mysteries are best left unsolved. As her grandma had told her, she was now sure that her mom had loved her. Furthermore, she was beginning to understand that her grandma loved her too.

Jordan grabbed hold of her grandmother's hand with her own hand, while the old lady was caressing her, and pressed it against her cheek kindly.

A truce had been settled.

-°-°-°-°-

As soon as Jordan's grandma left her hospital room, Garret came into it.

"_Hey Garret."_ Jordan said warmly.

"_You two are bonding."_ His index finger pointed toward the retreating figure of Jordan's grandma, and then to his favorite ME. The old lady was too far away to take any notice of his remark.

"_Woody's idea, I guess. By the way, where's he_?" Jordan glanced at the door, and there was no evidence of her husband yet.

"_He needed to take care of some business from the O'Brien's case. He'll be back soon."_ Garret approached her. He grabbed the medical chart that was hanging from the footboard of the bed and quickly reviewed the notations. An uncomfortable silence filled the room's atmosphere. When he finished, he returned the chart to its place. Then, he lifted his face to look at Jordan again.

"_How are you doing?"_ He asked, in his usual sober way.

"_Fine, Gar… I'm gonna be a mom."_ Jordan uttered between both, a thrilled and a cautious voice. She knew it was coming, and the time had finally arrived. She needed to make him understand that everything was going to be just fine.

"_Look, I'm not freaking out __at the__ high risk pregnancy the doctors __keep talking to me about__._ _And if two months of home confinement can't __talk__ me out __of__ my decision, you __don't__ stand a chance. I'm scared, I admit __i__t, but it's not the meningioma…"_

Garret interrupted her. He placed a hand over Jordan's shoulder, with something that had resemblances of a grin in his face. "_I won't ask you anything, Jordan. I just wanted to make sure that you were fine. I wouldn't wish for impossible things…_ "

Jordan rewarded his gesture with a wide smile. _"Thanks…"_

They were standing still in that position, when an old woman appeared at the door.

"_May I come in?"_ The woman asked them.

"_Mrs. Wells?"_ Jordan was surprised to see Margaret Wells. She, along with her grandma, were the last people she was expecting to come and visit her. Old ladies were materializing from thin air. Garret glimpsed at Jordan, questioning with the look if she wanted the woman to leave.

"_It's alright Garret…"_ Jordan waved her hand for the woman to come inside.

Garret sensed the vibe that had lingered into the room. Margaret Wells had been asking him for his ME, since she knew about Darcy's incident. She had been pretty upset, and that wasn't anything to be surprised about, she had lost her son, her grandchildren, and her daughter in law in the short period of one week.

Seely and the morgue crew were suspicious that it might end badly. Darcy had committed suicide, not wanting to face living with the guilt of the deaths of her entire family.

However, it was Jordan's visit to the hospital, as well as Darcy's death that was upsetting old Mrs. Wells. It was the fact that Jordan's pregnancy was at stake, and the danger that she had been exposed to. The woman had been really distressed.

"_I'll come later, Jordan."_ Garret asserted. He made a short head addressing to the old lady and left.

"_Dr. Cavanaugh, are you Ok, honey?"_ It didn't seem right for Jordan that it was Mrs. Wells asking her about her health, as the old woman was the one showing all the stress that she had been through the last few days.

"_Yes, I'm fine Mrs. Wells…"_ Jordan answered calmly.

"_Good."_ The woman stood by Jordan's side looking fondly at her. _"Please call me Margaret… I was worried about you, honey. I didn't know you were pregnant. If I had known it, I wouldn't have gone that day to ask you…"_ The old lady tried to explain, but Jordan stopped her, denying with her head.

"_Please, Margaret, don't… I'm fine… And if we are losing all the formalities here, please call me Jordan…"_ She was putting all her efforts to sound warm and reassuring. "_Look, I'm sorry about everything.__..__"_ Jordan began.

"_Don't be, please… I'll have to live with it. However, I have left one thing that comforts me. I loved Jeff, I loved my grandchildren, and much to my regret, I loved Darcy too. Now that I know she didn't do anything on purpose, that she loved her family, I'll be able to let them go in peace, even Darcy. She may have had many disagreements with my son, but… well; she couldn't stand her life without them. It was very sad that she ended her life the way she did. I'm shattered with everything that happened. And I was worried that I had dragged you __in__to this madness, honey. I just wanted you to know that… if you need anything, I mean, you may need someone to take care of you at home… Jordan. I know your husband is a detective, and he may not be able to be with you to help all the time. I'm offering for that position, honey. I want to be useful."_

"_Margaret, don't worry. I can take care of myself. I've been doing it the major part of my life."_

"_I know you can. It's only that… a new, tiny life comes with lots of qualms, things to be solved. Your life won't be the same after that, believe me. Some extra help always comes in handy. And, you may need me as much as I need that you __to __take __up __my offer."_

"_Alright, Margaret."_ Jordan swept Margaret's figure with a gaze. She had a wicked glint in her eyes, _"But I must warn you. Not even my husband has the nerve to deal with the Cavanaugh traits…"_ She couldn't finish because in that instant, she felt a look falling on her.

There was Woody, watching them through the open door.

"_You might want to listen to what my wife is telling you in these strange moments of clarity she's having, Mrs…"_ Woody uttered in his way to join both women, waiting for the old lady to introduce herself.

"_Detective Hoyt… call me Margaret, please."_ The old lady solicited him.

"_So, Margaret, call me Woody then."_ He demanded her kindly.

"_Here is my phone number, honey. Call me please. I'll be waiting."_ Margaret handed a piece of paper to Jordan and squeezed her hand in good bye. Then, she acknowledged Woody with a nod and a big smile as she left the room. _"Good bye, Woody."_ It was the last thing they heard as Margaret crossed to the door.

"_What was all that about?"_ Woody gave his wife a peck on the lips and grabbed a seat on a chair by her side.

"_We may have been __en__listed with a granny for our child."_ Jordan informed him, matter-of-factly.

Woody gave her and intrigued and amused glance. _"Does that mean that either you or I have a new mom?"_

Jordan dismissed any more comments waving her hand up and down. _"Oh, don't worry. I'll explain it to you later."_ She was now too preoccupied arranging the blue dress over her for Woody to take a look at it_. "Here it is! I'm not that loony after all."_

"_How did you get it?"_ Woody faked that he was stunned. All in all, it was all an act.

"_Oh! Don't __play dumb with __me, huh? I know you asked my grandma to come."_ She frowned and curved her lips to one side, pretending that she was mad at him.

"_Do I get punished with a kiss?"_ He made a face of pure innocence.

"_As daddy Gar had said, I wouldn't wish for impossible things."_ She teased him as she cupped his head in her hands and yanked him for a sound kiss.


	19. Why Can't I Be You?

When you are smiling  
ocurre que tu sonrisa es la sobreviviente  
la estela que en ti dejó el futuro  
la memoria del horror y la esperanza  
la huella de tus pasos en el mar  
el sabor de la piel y su tristeza  
When you are smiling  
the whole world  
que también vela por su amargura  
smiles whith you.

_When you are smiling, by Mario Benedetti._

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

This story is almost over, one more chapter to go and that will be all. Thank you, my friends, I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

Thank you Kat!

* * *

Chapter 19. **Why can't I be you?**

Claire O'Brien had been missing for almost two months since the police found out that she was Susan's murderer, and that she was the one that had kidnapped baby-Cynthia. The media exposure had worn out the story, and they barely mentioned it anymore. Nonetheless, the police had kept their search going.

Woody had been working on other cases. Life at the precinct had been pretty tight. However, he had been following fiercely, any lead on the O'Brien's case.

Much to Jordan's concern. It wouldn't have been any trouble if it weren't for 'Barbie'. If Jordan hardly tolerated her before her leave of absence, two months later, Ann was just a pain in the ass.

The profiler had stayed in Boston. She had proven to be reliable and had become indispensable for Councilor O'Brien. She worked remarkably well as his liaison with the BPD. That last fact was an issue to Jordan, and was exactly what bothered her.

Her connection was Woody.

If Jordan was jealous, she didn't let anybody see it. She was too proud. However, it was eating her alive. Being with her own company had done that to her.

Besides the Barbie question, she had also been reflecting on the many things that had been occurring without her even noticing. Their runaway to Las Vegas had been incredibly exhausting, they endured a frightening flight and Woody had been pretty drunk to everybody's liking, except for her. She had loved every tiny moment of that wedding.

Then, it was her pregnancy. She had realized how much she wanted to be a mom. It had been very strange. She had always thought of herself as a woman with lacking motherhood instincts, just to find out, she wasn't.

She wasn't worried about a returning meningioma either. Mother Nature had been gentle with her on that matter.

She had recovered the best childhood memory from her mom. It was maybe that she had let herself live a little, and in a brain stormy riot her past came back colliding with her present, forming a mess and a heap of uncertainty. However, it had been an incredible mayhem, somehow cosmic.

By this time, she was beginning to develop a delicate roundness on her stomach. The next ultrasound would show up if they were having a girl or a boy. She blessed the day the pill didn't work. However, she didn't bless that she had to be motionless in their home. In fact, there were two or three curses that had been escaping from her mouth about that topic.

Two months of home confinement had been more than challenging for Jordan and Woody. She felt incredibly useless at home. She missed her job immensely. If it weren't for good Margaret, she would have snapped. Well, she was going nuts, anyway, but Margaret managed to lighten her life. The old lady was made of strong steel and pure gold. The said Cavanaugh traits had proven to be more than a myth. Yet, it was mostly Woody the one that was there to confirm it.

Finally, but not the last in pecking order, was that sex activities had narrowed to zero. That was what a high risk pregnancy had really meant.

So, Jordan was left with her schizophrenic mind, imagining how fat, and undesirably she was becoming, and how beautiful Barbie was turning out to be. It didn't help that the profiler had managed to be with Woody any time that he wasn't working, or was with Jordan.

This last fact didn't only capture Jordan's attention, but the morgue's as well. One day, when they were having lunch together at the Hoyt's, with the obvious absence of the pair in question, Nigel had pointed out how close Ann and Woody had become. Kate had jabbed him on the ribs behind the table, and Jordan had pretended that she wasn't paying attention… but she was.

There came the day when the APB they had put on Claire O'Brien finally arose with something. She had been seen in LA. Woody had been required for her apprehension. O'Brien asked Dr. Weir to go as well. So, Ann and Woody were booked on the same flight.

Jordan was feeling miserable. She longed to be in Ann's position, so she could go with Woody. Instead of that, she could only say good bye from home, as she wasn't even allowed to go to the airport. There was no sign of her gloomy mood; no hesitation was coming out from her. It was the way she had always been, and it was the way it was going to stay.

Woody found himself approaching the plane with cold sweat sliding over his skin. He was still very anxious to fly. Ann didn't fail to notice his condition. They had adjacent seats, and it made it easier for her to look after him. It seemed that Jordan's presumptions weren't too far from reality. Ann did want to be taking care of Woody. Despite all the warning alerts that were ringing against it in her ears, he had earned an awfully special place in her heart.

As a twisted way of easing his mind, Woody told Ann everything about the plane crash. How they had survived, how the transmitter hadn't worked, and how they had believed that they were facing a true death in the wild. He even told her about Jordan's confession. Up to that point, Woody was relishing on the story that much that Ann had started to feel jealous. However, it was a long flight to LA. So, the story was long forgotten as they were talking animatedly over many other kinds of stuff.

They arrived in LA just to find out that Claire was out of sight. The LAPD had let her run away. The only thing that comforted the Boston detective was that she was seen again not far away from there. In a strange turn of fate, she was pretty close to where Woody and Jordan had found themselves stranded, and to where he had been kidnapped by Bob-the-aliens-freaking-believer, at the Mojave Desert, years ago.

Ann and Woody headed toward that direction and stayed in a small hotel near the region Claire had been seen. It had taken a week for the LAPD to locate the councilor's daughter again.

In that period of time, Ann had to keep hold of all kinds of Jordan's stories coming out from Woody's mouth. She had even learned about their kiss at the campfire, in the middle of nowhere.

How was it possible that there were that many romantic anecdotes he could tell?

She was at a breaking point. She hadn't been able to let go of her feelings for him, and to top it, she had to hear how he adored Jordan everyday. She became acquainted with their love story. So, she came to a resolution. It was a 'now or never' state of affairs.

Ann knew that Jordan's high risk pregnancy implied no sex between her and Woody. She also knew how exasperating Jordan had become with her home confinement. It was also an actual fact that Woody felt released for being out of that environment for a few days. Even if it was so utterly annoying that he was taking advantage of his freedom by bringing up to his memory, all those moments with Jordan. She could take advantage of his 'male instincts' as well. She, being a psychiatrist, knew perfectly well how to do it. Even if she wasn't a shrink, she also knew how attractive and sexy the male party found her.

She figured out a plan, she was desperate. This was probably the last time she could be with this man on pretense of working for the councilor. After that, there was nothing that she could allege to keep on by his side.

After a day with almost nothing to do concerning the 'Claire catch up' business, Ann and Woody were having dinner at the hotel. She was showing her allure and every man in the restaurant was mesmerized by her presence.

Some days without the 'Cavanaugh pressure' had relaxed Woody's spirit, and he was savoring the placid Californian night. Furthermore, he was enjoying Ann's company very much. Not a single one of Jordan's episodes had been brought up until that moment. It was also very encouraging for his ego that he had the most wanted woman sitting with him, and obviously hungering for something more from him. Even if he didn't want to consciously recognize it, it was a set.

After dinner, Ann invited him for a drink. Another drink followed the first one. Three or four drinks later, she acted as if she was way too drunk to get herself walking without help. It was a question of chivalry that Woody helped her to get to her room.

Ann wanted to push things a step further. She began to talk about how lonely and meaninglessly her life had been without her son. She had been so unlucky with love matters. She had gone through a distressful divorce. No man had truly loved her after that.

She knew how soft Woody's heart could become with somebody else's hurting. She was sitting on the bed, sobbing, and carelessly letting her strap fall over beyond to where it was legally meant to hold. She was showing all her weakness, metaphorically speaking, because her beauty wasn't anything to do with weakness.

Woody couldn't stand it anymore and approached her, sitting next to the inconsolable woman, on the bed. He took her body into a kind hug and held her for some time, wanting to comfort her.

Ann's fragrance lingered through her hair, it was intoxicating. Their embrace was developing into something more than friendly. She started to plant soft kisses all over his neck, and Woody felt shocked. His heart was racing. He suddenly became aware of the hot woman he was cuddling. Something between his brain and his body got disconnected. He didn't have command over what was going on anymore. His need was about to be satisfied, it was a promise that Ann was establishing clearly. She was attacking too many erogenous centers, he didn't even know he possessed.

His caring turned to lust.

Somehow, there was an instant when her dress slipped away completely. Ann struggled for a moment to liberate him from his shirt as well, until it came off and went discarded on the floor. Ann's near smoothness stroking against his torso was confusing. He was numbed for both, the liquor and that sensual woman.

A wave of pleasure washed him. She was naked and she was pressured against his chest. He ran his hand across her curves. Her skin was silky. She claimed his mouth in a strong command; her lips were balmy, tepid, moistened.

She was so beautiful, so desirable, so attainable…

… and so not Jordan.

His blood ran cold.

He yanked up from bed realizing what he was about to accomplish. Cold sweat was running down his entire body. A blast of panic enveloped him, and then a heavy emptiness in the guts seized him. He felt a huge guilt for having mistreated Ann, and for almost betraying his beloved Jordan. He apologized, the best he could, and rushed for the door, picking up his shirt on his way out.

Ann had been left there alone, naked, frustrated, and rummaging hot rage. Woody was more than she had been giving him credit for.

The first thing Woody did when he arrived at his room was call Jordan. He wasn't going to get trapped again for his weakness, his insecurities. He needed her to know how he loved her. Even if he had been glad to run away from the thick atmosphere that was permeating through their home, he needed Jordan to know that he couldn't stand life without her.

Guilt could be a powerful fuel. Nonetheless, their destinies would be ruled by Love.

Jordan, on the other hand, cherished his affectionate demonstration. It had come out from nowhere. She had been feeling lonely and apprehensive. She had been craving to switch Ann's place with her own persona. There was a time when she had been there, and she had wasted it.

Or maybe not…

She didn't know at the time how an innocent kiss by the blaze could become a Life project.

After that, things turned awkward between Ann and Woody. He had been avoiding her, and she had kept bumping 'unintentionally' into him. If he wasn't going to let himself be caught, she needed to go straight to him.

He continued running, nonetheless, he had been taught how to do it for the master of relationship-run-away Jordan. He had trusted Ann as a friend, and he wasn't going to let things get out of control again. He loved Jordan.

Although he didn't say a single word about it, it was perfectly clear to Ann what he was silently yelling.

To his relief, it didn't take long for the police to find Claire. Two days after the uncomfortable encounter, he received a call about her location. She had been living 'la Vida Loca', screwing with a wealthy lad. The baby was long forgotten. Her new boyfriend had hired a nanny to nurture Cynthia. It had been her who had given Claire to the police. It didn't seem right to the child caregiver the way this young woman made use of people for her delight.

The baby was fine, and it elated Woody. The baby was healthy, her heart had gotten stronger. For him, this wasn't a tiny victory. It wasn't merely that he had found Cynthia alive.

It was that she was just fine.

Like his Jordan.

Like their child.

Not everything we could hope for could become true, but sometimes, it only could.

They came back to Boston. At the airport, Jordan was waiting for Woody to arrive. She had been given a health release. Woody ran to her side when he saw her. The merry man reached his wife and he all but carried her, spinning her in the air around him. Every person passing by smiled because of the happiness they were radiating.

Meanwhile, lost among groups of people coming and going, the sad shape of a beautiful woman watched them at the distance. In Ann's mind, an idea bounced around like madness:

'Jordan, why can't I be you?'


	20. Just Like Heaven

_This road of life took us here today, the last chapter. I'm grateful to you all that have been reading. I'm honored with your reviews, and that you considered my work good enough to put it into your favorites. This was a long, long story, I certainly have to especially thank Kat for her incredible help._

_Disclaimer.- I don't own Crossing Jordan, however I feel like the characters belonged to me, I borrowed them and they stayed in my heart for this long trip. I enjoyed doing this story too much…_

_One last disclaimer.- I don't own any of the titles of each chapter, they belong to 'The Cure', and they intended to be my playlist . So, I toyed with the title and with the story plot, and fused them into one. It was fun, I can tell you._

_See you around…

* * *

_

Chapter 20. **Just Like Heaven**.

"_Oh my God! You're huge!" _

Jordan was busy reviewing some notes as she was making her way to her office. The one who had received her with such a greeting had a thick accent, and it was extremely familiar. She had recognized him immediately because he was engraved in her heart as it was in stone. It made her heart stop beating. She lifted her eyes from the file that she was reading to look at the owner of that voice.

"_Dad?"_ She was stunned. There, seated at her desk in her office was her father. The one she hadn't seen for about four years. _"Max, what are you doing here?"_

Jordan was wearing scrubs, and her eight months pregnant figure didn't quite fit in that costume. Her fully grown abdomen was revealed in its entire splendor. Max, on the other hand, had lost weight. He seemed older and more tired than his real age should exhibit.

"_Woody called me… six months ago. He told me you two got married, and… that you were pregnant. I meant to come earlier, but I had a lot of issues to __sort out__…"_ He had gotten up from the chair, and that simple movement had cost him too much effort. He had developed a hunchback – that, along with his thin figure and his pale skin, made him seem shorter and sick.

Max was admiring his daughter, his delight for what he was seeing clearly made known in a full grin. _"Jordan, you are really pregnant."_

Jordan's first sensation of anger was hastily replaced with a worried one. She had played this scene in her mind many times, but she wasn't expecting, not in a million years, to find the big, strong, healthy man she remembered as her father in this condition.

"_Why are you still working, Jordan? Shouldn't you be at home by now?"_ He had taken her hands in his own hands, and Jordan felt a tiny trembling in his hold, almost imperceptible, but she was sure it was there. That left her speechless.

It took her a few instants to recover_. "I__'ve__ had plenty of time at home, dad; two months of confinement__ was__ more than enough. I'm here just __until __midday… and mostly to help with the interns. I just __have to __supervise one of them..."_ She was struggling to come to terms with her emotions. She needed an explanation, she needed to know where he had been all these years. What he had been doing? Why is that it had taken him that long to visit her since Woody had called him? They haven't shared anything more than a few phone calls in four years.

However, none of her qualms seemed to be important anymore to her as she observed him. It would be surely something she wouldn't want to hear right now. The answer was in front of her eyes. It was obvious to her that her father was terribly sick.

So, she asked nothing.

"_Have you just arrived here?"_ She tried to act as if it was nothing but normal that her dad was there, as if nothing would have happened. It was as if they would have seen each other the night before at 'The Pogue', his old and beloved bar. Nonetheless, she was having a hard time with her act.

"_More or less… I called Woody from the airport an hour ago. He told me you were busy, but that I should wait for you, so he drove me here…" _

"_It's alright dad, I'm free for lunch. Just let me finish two things on this report, and we can leave. Is__ that alright __with you?"_ She sat on the chair and left the report on the desk. She was waiting for her father to respond to her.

"_It's fine__. Do you mind if I wait for you here?"_ Max was already sitting on the couch. It was too painful for her to watch him, he couldn't support his own weight standing still, and he couldn't have been weighing too much.

"_Be my guest."_ She waved her hand at him, offering the seat. However, it had sounded awkward. That politeness wasn't how they used to act towards each other; somehow it was fitting fairly well – the strange atmosphere of this reunion.

They were silent for some minutes. Jordan was buying time. She glanced with the corner of her eyes toward her father once in a while, inspecting him. She wanted to figure out a plan before they would leave the security of the morgue. Her father was calmed, too serene for her liking.

"_So, Jordan…"_ Max waited for his daughter to look at him, _"do you know what you're having? Is it a boy or a girl?" _He asked gently. It seemed that he had made peace with life, and that was exactly what was bothering Jordan about his attitude.

She was also surprised by the question itself, it was something they would be talking about later, it was evident. However, she expected this inquiring to happen a lot long after this first meeting. Did it mean that her father didn't have much time to be with her?

"_A boy, dad."_ She dropped the pen on the desk and rested her chin on her hands. _"I had this strong feeling that it was going to be a girl…"_ She relished on the memory and a small smile started to form on her features. _"I even dreamed of her, just for the ultrasound to show me how different what we dream __is from__ what it is real…"_ She shrugged. Her smile had grown wider and was contagious. _"Anyhow, I think it's better this way, I wouldn't be a good__ female role model__ if it had turned out to be a 'she'"_ She let some small laughs escape from her. Her anxiety had faded at last.

"_A boy."_ Max repeated as he left out a sigh. _"And do you have a name for him already?"_

She looked at him with a wicked grin. _"Not yet. Woody and I have been fighting quite a lot about it. He wants to continue his odd family tradition by choosing a president name, but I can tell you, dad… he's- go-nna- lose!"_

This last remark came in a sing-song tone, and she jabbed her index finger at him as she nodded, keeping the rhythm. She was making her point perfectly clear. Her father found it extremely amusing and laughed. Jordan frowned, laughing as well. She realized that the ice had been disrupted. _"C'mon dad, let's get out of here, I know this little place around the corner where you can eat like a king." _

* * *

"_So, tell me, did you know he was ill?__"_ Jordan asked Woody as he was opening the door of the car for her.

He sighed, waited for her to climb into the car and bowed over the open door, resting his hands on the top of the car. He looked intently at her. _"I didn't, I swear, but… I had my suspicions… He didn't tell me anything when I called him six months ago, but I found it very strange that he __said__ that he couldn't come to see you. I didn't realize until a month ago what he was really telling me… So, I did a little research… Mmmh, you know he's the Cavanaugh father, isn't he? … I couldn't find anything. Believe me, I wasn't expecting him now. He came here out of the blue… He is obviously sick, so, when I met him at the airport this morning, I asked him…"_ He made a pause.

Jordan observed him from the seat of the car. She was expectant.

They had just driven her father back to the airport. He said he couldn't be with them more than a day, and it had left her very anxious. He hadn't wanted any help of any kind. Jordan hadn't found the courage to ask him anything either, and Max had been too peaceful and pleasant the whole day. It had been a strange visit, something like a farewell.

Woody was struggling with what he was telling her. Jordan couldn't stand the silence anymore, so she demanded him. _"And?"_

"_Do you really want to know?"_ He said as if he was pleading her not to continue.

"_I don't, but I think I'm gonna explode if I don't hear it… so, please tell me."_

"_Alright… He has cancer… terminal… he didn't want to be a burden for you. He made me swear that… that I wouldn't make him stay…"_ His voice faltered. He couldn't hold anymore the tears that were crowding in his eyes. He was terribly sad for both, his own pain and Jordan's as well. _"That's why he couldn't come when you were framed for JD's murder__, or w__hen he learned about your meningioma__;__ or when we came back from the crash. __It is also why h__e couldn't come when I told him about our marriage and the baby, not until now."_ He shook his head as he was pulling himself together. He swallowed hard and made another long pause. _"I'm sorry honey…"_

He knelt down by her side, the open door of the car hid them from outsiders' eyes. The airport parking lot was almost dark, the artificial lights were not enough to illuminate their shapes. He laid his arms around her trembling body. Both were crying, and both were seeking each other's warmth.

* * *

They were disturbed by the phone ringing in the middle of the night. Jordan stared at the clock immediately, it was five fifteen. She hadn't been able to sleep. Her father's illness had been a painful realization. Woody, on the other hand, had been tussling under the covers until exhaustion took over him about an hour earlier. The ringing phone at such an early hour wasn't anything unforeseen at the Hoyt's, given their jobs. However, she was expecting something huge to happen, like a premonition.

As she wasn't on duty (she hadn't been on night shifts because of her pregnancy), the only one to whom that call could be meant was Woody.

He stumbled with the phone until he managed to answer. "_Hoyt."_ His mind was a little cloudy and that caught him with his guard down.

"_Yes, he's my father…what about him?"_ He was still trying to focus.

Jordan's heart was racing; she knew that the call had to be something to do with Max. The only one Woody could be calling 'his father' was him.

"_What did you say?"_ He was now very awake.

She started to feel panic. _"What? What is it?!"_ She demanded him.

At this moment, both had been yanked from the bed. He was sitting on his side of the bed and Jordan was standing in front of him.

"_Yes… I'll be there. Thanks."_ He hung up and glanced worriedly at Jordan.

She was losing her mind, for she was sure that she knew what the call had been about. Woody didn't reply as fast as she needed him to answer, so she yelled at him. _"What was it?!"_

"_Max__ just died."_ He replied, distressed. He was shocked at the news and jolted at her anxious urge.

Suddenly, every muscle in her body tensed up. Her mind went empty. She didn't even notice she wasn't breathing anymore. She stared blindly at Woody, she couldn't understand his troubled features. He wrestled desperately striving to make her react. However, she couldn't hear him or think of something in response. She didn't know how long it lasted until a big hurt in her abdomen stroke her. It was unbearable, it made her bend forward and screamed in pain. Woody held her strongly, keeping her from falling to the ground. After that, everything was a blur.

Time and space were confused to her. Sensations, noises, people surrounding her drifted in her mind like leaves blown by the wind. Until another huge ache in her abdomen hit her.

Out of the blue, she was in the back seat of the car, Margaret was holding her firmly. Jordan was coming to her senses gradually. She started to notice Woody's voice coming from the front seat. She could hear the siren. She could distinguish car headlights mixed with the daybreak. She could feel her back hurting and her stomach stiffening until another force of pain hit her. Contractions… Braxton Hicks, she was in labor.

"_It isn't time yet."_ Jordan said before the ache got stronger and made her scream again.

Margaret looked for a sign of consciousness in her eyes. At the same time she asked. _"Are you with us, honey?"_

When the pain left her, Jordan nodded to the old woman.

"_What's going on?!"_ Woody yelled, trying to catch what was happening on the back seat from the reflection in the mirror. But he only became frustrated as both women were out of his visual area.

"_The baby is coming! It isn't time yet!"_ Jordan yelled back.

"_Jordan!"_ Woody shouted, happy to hear she was conscious now.

"_Don't worry, honey. You're eight months pregnant, it is alright for the baby, and he can survive perfectly well."_ Margaret patted her hair softly in an effort to calm her.

"_Yes, I know Meg, bu__t it shouldn't be happening. It__ isn't__ his time yet, he could be __under__ severe stress now."_ Jordan replied, upset.

Her medical mind had replaced her numbed one. "_We need to get to the hospital, Woody!"_ She commanded him. She began to control her breathing, demanding to control her own body.

The car's wheel grinded as Woody hit the brakes. _"We're already here!"_ He climbed out and rushed to take her out of the car.

As he was about to carry her in his arms, Jordan pushed him away. _"No, I can walk!"_

"_Alright! Alright."_ He granted her. However, he took her arm and supported her while they were stepping into the hospital.

Margaret called them out, "_I'll meet you in there_." as she was moving the car to the parking lot.

Somewhere on the way to the emergency room, Woody got hold of a wheelchair for her. The nurses took control of the situation, and he was left, filling in the registration form. Two or three minutes later Dr. Seymour appeared, coming down from the corridor. At the same time, Garret arrived from the other side.

Jordan was moved into the labor room. She was lying on a stretcher, her vital signals had been taken, she was returning to normality. She had been wrapped with cord probes that were connected to equipment. Those were intended for monitoring the baby's heartbeats. She was drifting away to the rhythmic sound of them. Until another contraction attacked her. That's when Woody entered the room. She was shouting out in pain.

Every second that passed by was an eternity for him, the doctor hadn't arrived yet, so he went to the door and screamed for help. Two nurses appeared immediately, closely followed by Dr. Seymour.

"_Calm down, Woody. We don't want you to faint, do we? Take a deep breath and hold Jordan's hand. Come on! We don't have__ time to block her."_ The doctor explained to him as she was inspecting Jordan's cervix. Woody did as he was requested, and rushed to take her hand.

All went into a haze after that, an infinite sequence of events frozen into a fleeting instant. How much was it? What happened? Everything was confused for Jordan and Woody, almost like when they were in the plane, and it was falling to the ground. They were holding each other's hand.

"_Push! He's almost here! I can see his head crowning!"_

"_What?"_

"_One, breath. Two, breath. Three, breath…"_

"_Ahhh! That's all I can do, I'm pushing, I'm…"_

"_Come on, another try, push!"_

Her hand was squeezing his hand, almost smashing him.

"_He is here!"_ Seymour announced, carrying in her hands the tiny baby. The incredible sound of his cry emerged in the room. Both parents were shedding tears as well.

"_C'mon, let me see him."_ Jordan's exhausted voice pleaded, and a nurse brought the warm, naked, soft and fuzzy little Hoyt to her, resting him on her chest.

A mute witness observed them from the door. Garret had managed to get in there. He was thinking how proud Max would be with the life his daughter had let herself have. This little boy was a blessing, he had come into the world far beyond any expectation, to lighten up the lives of many people, including himself. Max had departed knowing his daughter was fine, and that she would be happy after his own death. She would recover, she had many reasons to do so.

Anyhow, such were the roads of life. One life had ended, and yet another one had just begun. And in the middle, many lives had been touched, they had changed.

Jordan's and Woody's bliss was beyond the sky.

"_You, my little angel."_ Jordan whispered to her son, caressing him. _"You're my angel."_

Woody was kissing back and forth his own angels, both, Jordan and the baby. His heart was about to explode at the wonderful sight. It was fulfilled with pride, joy, tenderness, and love. It felt… just like heaven.


End file.
